A Myth Reborn
by DeceiveroftheGods
Summary: Dropped into a new place in time a young man must somehow adjust to the strange new world he finds himself in. But, this young man is not what he seems feisty and quick to anger this temperamental young man must now adjust to this strange place. Though things are not as they seem, something lies beneath this man's exterior, something dangerous, powerful, and ancient.
1. Rude Awakening

**_Wow holy crap everyone I'm finally back, and no before you ask I didn't forget about any of my other fics I am still working on those I'm just having a little bit of trouble at the moment. Mostly because this fucking thing has been on my mind since I thought of it, I don't even know why I thought of it to be honest...Anyway This is just to get it out of my mind for the time being. I won't even try to act like it's decent because its really not in my opinion but anyway try t enjoy it I guess leave comments telling me what you think. _**

* * *

**Rude Awakening**

_The endless void...how many aeons have I spent staring at this dark expanse. It is nothing, yet it is everything. I've sat here for millennium watching the world change, watching empires rise and fall, civilizations grow and crumble. I've stared into the changing world until it all blurred together, after that nothing was easy to tell apart anymore. At this time I reflected back on my past asking myself questions such as; 'How did this happen to me?' 'Why did this happen to me?' 'Did my brothers and sisters share the same fate?' I couldn't sense them once I awoke in the void, though that doesn't say much as I couldn't feel anything after waking. No, all I could do was sit, wait, and watch, being set in a position such as this it is quiet maddening for even without a physical form I still...ached. Ached to move and to live again, to run free and rule the lands as I once did, to wreak havoc and show those pathetic creatures what true power was. Alas, that's all I could manage in the state I am in, merely dreaming of times long past though it caused me to think caused me longing wishing I had done more in the life given to me. _

_ Perhaps when this void ends I can once again set out and rule once again, but would that be all I did with my new life. Would I just set out and crush any opposition, would I just set my authority in stone as I once did. Or, would I be different would I make as little an impact in the world and stay to the shadows, how strange for me to think of that. Where I once ruled hundreds of kingdoms forcing the pitiful humans to tremble and cower in my presence to simply vanishing into legend, what was it that humans would say 'old habits die hard?' Something along those lines I'm sure, but nevertheless disappearing into myth is no way for a ruler to act, though the age of my brothers and sisters has passed I look forward to the day I live again. To the day I set forth to claim my rightful place as ruler of the land. To the day where humans quake at the mere sight of my magnificence. To the day I rain fire down from the heavens of the insolent! I WILL LIVE AGAIN!_

_ ...Yes, I will live once again, to feel the wind and warmth of the sun against my body. My time will come, I must be patient as patience is all I have anymore. Strange, I feel so tired, something I have become accustomed too in this endless expanse though the feeling is stronger than before. I-I think I'll just 'sleep' maybe I'll dream of my future life._

* * *

Dark, he was so tired of the dark, the dark was all he had ever known yet this dark was much different that he was used to. A faint sound reached his ears...a _sound _reached his _ears_! He could hear, he had ears to hear with, did that mean he had regained his body? Did that mean his aeons of waiting were finally over? Did he in fact live again? He decided to test this as he tried to flex...something, he felt muscles contract and pull taut as a limb bent in his direction. From the position of it, it felt like an arm, maybe...he couldn't be sure after going for so long without a physical body suddenly having one confused his senses. As he fumbled around in the darkness he manged to move himself right-side up or maybe it was upside down, with the absence of light it was hard to tell just which was he was facing or...not facing. A moment or two of stumbling about in the darkness he managed to right himself as he stood, barely, on his own two feet. _Two legs what a strange feeling, then again what a strange feeling to have any limbs again. _

Taking a few unsteady steps he manged to make his way to some sort of wall, it was cold and damp, with a few raps on it he was able to determine it was a rock wall therefor leading him to the conclusion of being in a cave. How he got into the cave, however was another mystery entirely, _One thing at a time...one thing at. a. time. _Using the cave wall for leverage he was able to keep himself upright as he paced around the dark cave hoping to find a way out, or at the very least, some sort of light. A chill ran up his spine, a small grin formed on his lips at that thought, despite being surprised though it hinted to him that there was an opening somewhere in this cave. With the constant supply of dripping water, he was damp enough to get a clear directions of where the air was coming from, his slow shuffling began to steadily increase until he was in a full on sprint through the cave. Every twist and turn the cave threw at him he took with hardly any grace as his body slammed into the hard walls, but he pushed on nonetheless after the breeze to what he hoped would be his freedom.

Light, blinding light flooded through the cave and into his eyes, he quickly slid to a halt as he clenched his eyes shut trying to drive away the bright light. Taking tentative steps forward, he kept on his path towards the entrance and towards the light, once he felt the cool breeze on his body he attempted to open his eyes only to grit his teeth and shit them tight once again. Shaking his head slightly he raised his arm to shield his eyes as he tried once again to open them, it was bright very bright though it was painful the change was welcome. His eyes strained against the harsh light as he blinked multiple times before vague shapes began to form, though his vision was blurry he could make out more obvious shapes like trees and rocks. Though there was one thing that escaped his mind, it was in the sky but he couldn't quiet...oh. The shape slowly lowered down to a more reasonable level as he turned the hand...his hand over and observed it, _Is this some kind of cruel joke? _He frowned slightly as he looked down at the rest of his body, while stuck in his dark prison of sorts and desperate for an escape he didn't properly take note of his...er, new body.

Moving over to a small pond by the cave entrance he was able to see that he appeared to be a young man with dark black hair that fell past his shoulders, in his hair he had streaks of a dark almost forest green color running through it. His eyes were a vibrant ice blue color, he watched as his face formed a frown as he continued to look himself over, opening his mouth caused his frown to deepen as he realized he now had human teeth. Pathetic, fragile human teeth, though his canines were still fairly pointed and sharp so there was at least that. Despite the startling realization of what he had now become he found it more strange that he was in clothes, nothing from his time, but modern-day clothes. _This day just gets more and more strange it seems, _he was wearing a black sweatshirt with a dark grey shirt underneath, he wore a dark pair of blue jean pants and a pair of what seemed to be combat boots. A low growl rumbled in his chest as he pulled his sweatshirt off and tore it to shreds, he began to pull of his shirt and pants and only stopped when he remembered that the human society frowned on public nudity.

Turning away from the pond as well as the cave, he turned and looked into the forest of trees before him, he couldn't be sure if they had actually grown large from his time or it was simply because of his new form. _How irritating..._Though he would have rather stayed where he was it dawned on him that his new frail human body probably wouldn't be able to survive in the elements like he was once able to. He begrudgingly picked a direction and began to walk in it wondering just what this new world held for him, at one point he had wished he had awoken in a place closer to civilizations, but then again it probably wouldn't have been a good idea either. Despite that the term struck him as rather odd, _awoken, _if that was what he could actually call it then why or rather how did that happen. How did he manage to end up in a slumber that spanned many centuries, but more importantly why? Why was he singled out from his brothers and sisters to suffer this fate and end up in this strange time, why was he so special that he was chosen to be here? Did he have some higher purpose to fulfill, was there something important he was meant to do? It plagued his mind and honestly upset him to think that he would never see his...family again, but he put his mind at ease knowing that they were at peace and not trapped as he was.

His head snapped up when a loud rustling sound reached his ears, he eyed a bush that was close by that seemed to shake slightly, he moved past it but glanced back on it occasionally though it seemed to have stopped moving when he moved past it. His journey didn't bring him to much just more and more trees, it was strange the forests he walked through in his time were filled with all manner of creature and yet here there was nothing. The only thing that seemed to follow him was that accursed rustling sound that was beginning to grate on his nerves, almost as if he wished it upon himself the rustling started up again right next to him. Gritting his teeth he turned to the bushes near him and on instinct shouted, "I demand that you show yourself this instant!" The sudden noise too him by surprise but much less so than everything else up to this point, he looked like a human it only made sense that he had the voice of a human...how else would he interact with the wretched humans. His voice grated his own ears, being he wasn't used to hearing something so...husky coming from his own body, despite that the rustling brought his attention back to the bush.

The bush began to shake more violently before a black blur shot forth from the bush followed by another and another, soon a group of strange creatures surrounded him on all sides as he turned to gaze at the creatures. They held themselves much like the wolves from his own time but they were large much large, almost akin to the dire wolves he once saw, their fur was black a deep black that reminded him of that terrible abyss he was once trapped in. The beasts snarled and growled at him exposing their jagged fangs as saliva dripped from their gaping maws, over their head seemed to be some kind of bone plating that served as strange makeshift armour covered in small deep red etchings that seemed to vary on each creature. They snarled at him as they began to move closer, at least until a louder much more guttural growl pierced the air causing the others to stop in their tracks, he turned towards the sound as another one of the creatures emerged from the bushes though it was much larger than the others. _The alpha..._He could feel his lips curl into a mocking smirk, _Interesting, _the beast moved closer to him before lifting its forelegs off the ground as it stood on its rear legs towering over the other creatures as well as himself. The alpha was covered in more of the strange bone-like armour, it covered its head more than the others, it ran down its back between the large spikes of bone that protruded from its back. Those same bone spikes were on its forelegs, it made his curious as to just what kind of creature this was, he was brought back to attention when the creature snarled at him as he shot a piercing glare towards it.

"Enough with your petty threats tell me your name beast, I demand it!" The creature looked at him curiously but said nothing, this angered him, how dare this insolent creature ignore his demands back in his time every beast knew their place and knew it was in their best interest not to anger him. "I said speak! Or you shall face the consequences of defying me." The alpha merely huffed at his demand causing a low growl to escape his lips as he sighed heavily, "So be it..." A sudden sound caught his attention as he turned towards it, one of the beasts leapt towards him intending to attack him, a sudden rush of emotions ran threw him as he let out an animalistic growl before throwing his arm and as it connected with the black beast. The beast few back slamming into one of the many trees with such force it shook the large tree down to its roots as small chunks of bark flew from the spot of impact. The beast crumpled to the ground unmoving as he turned back to the alpha who had seemed to move away from him slightly, "I give you one chance, and one chance only. What. Are. You. Called." The beasts twitched eying their fallen comrade but again made no attempt to yield, "Very well, I will show you true pain since you insolent creatures have continued to defy my will. You will know suffering like no other when I-"

"Look out!" He turned quickly to the sudden shout to see a flash of red rushing towards him with a glint of something in their hands, heeding their words he dropped to the ground as he felt a rush of wind over him as the sound of metal cutting through flesh and bone echoed through the once silent forest. He turned over on his back, to see a sight he would never expect to see in his past life or in this life, a young girl clad in black and red carrying a hulking scythe swinging it as she cut through the beasts that merely stood there possibly shocked with the sudden intrusion of the child. She moved with speed that must have been unrivaled as she cut down the creatures without a second though, in the midst of the chaos one of the creatures stalked behind her before leaping out. He opened his mouth to shout his warning when a black ribbon shot out wrapping around the creature's neck jerking it backwards into the foliage as a gunshot rang out through the forest.

The battle was over quickly as the young girl cut down every beast that crossed her path, _What a ruthless child...how interesting. _He pushed himself off the ground as the large scythe seemed to grow smaller before folding into a strange shape to which she hid it under her red cloak, she took a deep breath before turning towards him a large smile on her face her silver eyes shining brightly almost as if nothing had happened. Her eyes fell on him and quickly a look of concern crossed over her face, she opened her mouth to speak when she was cut off by a rather haughty, light but at the same time almost shrill voice, "You dolt, you should know better than to run off like that, you could have gotten hurt if we lost track of you!" _We? _An embarrassed look crossed the young girls face as she gave a nervous chuckle while scratching her head.

"H-Heh sorry Weiss I just got a little carried away..." A girl dressed entirely in white, presumably Weiss, emerged from the thicket as she brushed the leaves and branches from her hair. He sneered at the sight of her, she had a large air of arrogance surrounding her, from the way she talked to the way she walked he knew she was someone who was born of some sort of royalty. That fact disgusted him, royals such as her were one of the reasons he was disgusted with the humans, some were born into families of a large wealth and that made them thing they were better than just about everyone else and it angered him to no end with their attitude. The girl in white's eyes fell on him and those ice blue orbs gazed at him such contempt it made him sick as she looked him over, though when she gazed at him he was able to see a barely visible scar across her eye, _How curious, _but then it was gone when she turned her nose up at him before turning back to the girl in red. "Who is that?" The way she mentioned him in such an off-hand way like he wasn't even there set off a fire in his stomach as he intended to answer her when another voice rang out.

"Ah, you worry too much Weiss Ruby can handle herself just fine, right sis?" Out from the brush came a girl with a large mane of messy golden locks that came down to her waist, she wore...revealing clothes that didn't even seem suitable for situations such as these. Behind her was another girl though she was clad entirely in black, the ribbon he saw snatch the creature out of the air was wrapped around her arm, a large black cleaver like weapon rested on her back. The girl glanced at him with bright amber eyes giving him a curious look before looking away, he swore that bow she wore moved ever so slightly. The two new arrivals moved over to the others and began to speak, rather argue, amongst themselves for a few minuets wherein he was able to learn the names of the new arrivals. The girl with the golden hair was named Yang and the girl in black was named Blake, he liked Black she said few words as was possibly the quietest of the four which he instantly noticed and liked. They occasionally glanced over at him before speaking to each other in hushed whispers, he began to grow frustrated with the secrecy, if they wished to talk about him the least they could do was speak loud enough for him to hear.

Their whispering began to grow louder though he still couldn't make out what they were saying, but suffice to say their exaggerated hand gestures was rather amusing to watch. They suddenly fell hushed as the girl in white looked to each of them before huffing and stepping forward, the younger girl Ruby reached out to try and stop her, "Weiss wait don't!"

"What's your name?" She demanded, she looked towards him with that same look of contempt that sickened him to the very core, she was like every spoiled queen he had the displeasure of running into demanding things from anyone they ran across as they thought their title gave them authority. He didn't speak and she responded just as he knew she would, she huffed turned her nose up and stomped her foot, "I said what is your name, do you know who I am?"

He raised a brow at this outburst as he spoke, "I'm sorry I think you've mistaken me for someone who gives a damn." The look that crossed her face amused him to no end, she was shocked and at a loss for words it was obvious she never had someone speak to her in such a way...of course.

"H-How dare you speak to me like that after we saved you from-"

"Actually _girl_," He sneered the word as he spoke, "_You _did nothing of the sort, the child behind you is the one who _saved _me, and I needed no saving I can take care of a few disrespectful beasts on my own." He ended by turning his nose up in the same manner she previously did to him, she did not seem to appreciate the gesture as she stuttered out half formed responses as he face seemed to flush in anger.

"W-What did...h-how dare...who do you think-"

"A-Alright Weiss that's enough j-just go over there..." The girl in red rushed up behind the one in white and turned her around and gently pushed her towards the other two before turning back towards him sighing softly. She looked at him disapprovingly perhaps she didn't appreciate the way he spoke to her friend but the look disappeared quickly as it was replaced with that same large smile from earlier causing her silver eyes to sparkle. "L-Lets try that again. Hi, I'm Ruby Rose y-you met Weiss already, the other two are my sister Yang and her partner Blake, if you don't mind me asking what were you doing out here?" He looked down towards her extended before glancing up at her again, her hand seemed to falter slightly as he moved towards her.

"Ruby..."

The voice came from her sister and it sounded like a warning, though not intended for her, he glanced up and was met with stunning violet eyes that seemed to glare at him as he frowned. He extended his hand gripping the young girls shaking it, "Pleasure, as for why I could ask you the same thing. What's a child like you doing out here fighting these creatures?" Her smiled seemed to falter ever so slightly at the mention of child, but it was quickly replaced by that same smile as she casually shrugged and released his hand.

"It's kind of what we do." She said it in a way that suggested it was the most obvious answer and that he should have known. Suffice to say it only caused him to frown in irritation as he tried to calm himself, she was a child after all.

"I'm afraid I don't follow..." A look a confusion flashed across the girls face as she looked at him trying to determine if he was in fact serious when he said that. Though it was hard to tell when he kept his face free of any emotion it was utterly blank, Ruby frowned, _Another Blake wonderful, _she thought. She scratched her head as she half turned to look at the rest of her team but saw that they were busy harassing Weiss to be of any help, she crossed her arms as she tried to think of a way to explain what should have been fairly obvious to just about anyone.

"Well...you see," She frowned in contemplation as she made of few noises of frustration, "Y-You have to know what Grimm are though, right?" Again he just stared at her blankly though he turned his head slightly to gaze at the body of the fading Beowolves before turning back to her.

"Those creatures I assume?" Ruby sighed with relief before nodding her head excitedly, she was at least relived that she would have to explain to him what Grimm were, she didn't care much for learning them so she didn't want to end up having to explain them, she could leave that to Blake.

"Great you know what those are at least, well they have to do with us." She motioned to the rest of her team that now consisted of Blake holding Yang back with Weiss smirking from some sort of triumph. "It's our job as hunters to-"

_"Hunters..." _He sneered the word as a look of blind rage came over his face as he took a few steps away from the girl, "You humans are so desperate to have a multitude of _hunters _that they have taken to recruiting children into their ranks! Do they care not about the dangers you will face? Do they not understand they are shorting your life by sending you out into the wilds to face danger for them!" He gave an irritated scoff, "How cowardly have these people become that they send a _child _to do work they can't do themselves?!" The girl had a confused look on her face, clearly she didn't understand the dangers she faced, usually he wouldn't care if a hunter was sent his way he had no qualms with cutting them down but he would never end the life of a child. "And you..." This grabbed her attention as she jumped slightly looking up towards him, "How ignorant are you to blindly join them surely you must understand the dangers of being a-a _hunter!"_

By now the others had noticed what was going on and rushed over to aide their youngest, the girl with the golden hair glared at him her violet eyes flashing a deep crimson for split second, "Hey man what the hell is wrong with you, you can't just talk to my sister like-"

"All of you are no better, acting as slaves to those in higher power doing their deeds where they do not have the courage to do it themselves. Do you not see they care not if you fall in the field, that you are slain, they have many more to replace all of you, I'm giving you a chance to reconsider your choices!"

The girl in black quirked her brow, "A chance? What happens if we don't listen to you?"

He straightened his stance as he looked at the four girls before him as a frown appeared on his lips, "If you don't reconsider..." He looked at them all but he eyes fell on the youngest that stood in front of the other three as a quick flash of sadness washed over him, "I'll be forced to end your lives..."

* * *

Silence reigned over the group that stood facing each other, a look of surprise and fear were evident in the faces of the four girls. On the other hand, an empty looked filled the young man's eyes as he glared at the girls before him, if they refused to relent he would be forced to carry out his threat though he would feel no remorse for it. "What's your name?!" His cold gaze fell on Weiss who tried to return the same look but faltered as she averted her gaze, his eye caught the movement of her hand as it slowly inched towards her weapon.

"What does it matter?" His voice matched his eyes hallow, empty, and cold it was proof enough that he either planned to follow through with his threat or he had done this enough before to sink into that mindset.

"Please...tell us..." His gaze met silver eyes that were filled with a sadness so prominent that he could sense a feeling of despair welling up inside of him, if he did strike this child down he could at least find it in himself to be courteous enough to tell her his name.

"...Rodric, My name is Rodric."

"Did the White Fang send you?" He cast his gaze over to Blake who stared at him with hard amber eyes waiting to judge his answer.

"Who?"

The four shared a look before turning back towards him, "Rodric we're not going to fight you it's not-"

"Then you relent your position as hunters correct?" Again they all shared a look before the young girl look towards him with look of worry clouding her eyes.

"No..."

She opened her mouth again to continue but he merely shook his head, "Then there is no need to speak of this subject anymore, I'm sorry it had to come to this." He watched as they all readied their weapons as he took a deep breath, slowly exhaling, he didn't know how he would fare in this fight but he refused to give up without a fight. He might not have his original body but he refused to give up against a few hunters, they slaughtered many of his brothers, if he fell by their hands then so be it but he refused to simply give up. They all readied themselves as they lowered their bodies or bounced on their feet as his eyes jumped from each one wondering who would make the first move.

His question was answered when Weiss stepped forward raising her weapon, it seemed to be a simple Rapier, she took a few tentative steps forward before dashing forward straight towards him. Her eyes were hard as she drew closer but she noticed he made no move to deflect the attack, no move to use his aura, or ready his weapon, or defend himself in general. The closer she got her resolve faltered as her eyes became soft as she slightly lowered her weapon, it was then she knew that she had made a mistake. As she lowered her weapon ever so slightly Rodric quickly stepped forward the blade barely glancing past him as he took hold of her wrist and snapped her entire arm around holding it at an awkward angle behind her. She cried out as pain shot through her arm causing her to drop Myrtenaster as Rodric stood behind her keeping a strong grip on her arm, "Is this what they taught you? To show mercy on your enemies when they show none to you?"

She struggled against his grip as he pulled her arm back further causing her to lean back slightly as she hissed out in pain, "L-Let me go this instant!" Even with her demand he could hear a tinge of fear lacing her words.

"Don't tell me you honestly fear death, isn't that what you hunters march yourself towards every day?" He reached around her and placed his hand across her neck gripping it tightly as she began to shake under his grip, "I warned you, I don't plan to spare any _hunter_." He tightened his grip on her neck as she gasped out in surprise and fear as he let a low growl escape his lips.

"Now Blake!" He jerked his head and saw Yang and Ruby standing in the same place but the girl in black was gone, he looked over his shoulder to see Blake rushing towards him the cleaver like weapon being dragged across the ground, as she raised the blade to strike at him he quickly turned putting Weiss between the two. Looking over his shoulder he saw Blake frown as she too faltered in her strike, he pushed Weiss forward before kicking her in the small of her back sending her forward crashing into Blake. As they crashed to the ground a series of gunshots rang out causing him to turn his attention to the other two, he was caught by surprise when they were both rushing towards him at an unprecedented speed. Yang reached him first as she threw her fist out towards his head, quickly jerking his head to the side a plume of smoke and fire shot out from her gauntlet along with the deafening sound of the gunshot caused him to stumble back covering his ear, though it seemed to have benefited him, as he stumbled back the blade of the scythe stabbed into the spot he was standing in merely seconds ago.

He shook his head as he swayed on his feet slightly, his sense of balance thrown off as his ear continued to ring, _Curse this fragile human body. _He continued to evade and dance around their attacks as the ringing began to slowly fade allowing him to move a bit easier now that he wasn't stumbling over his own feet. Though they appeared to be mere children it seemed they were as relentless as the hunters of his time, to many times their blades barely missed his flesh or missed piercing into his body though it was dangerous he moved as close as he could. He closed in on Ruby first intending to incapacitate her, as she swung her weapon he reached out and gripped the metal staff stopping it mid swing as he kicked her in the stomach and away from the fight. He lifted the massive scythe only to find his muscles straining under the immense weight of it, _How could a mere child hold something like this. _Gritting his teeth he gripped it as best he could, turning towards the others he was shocked to see Weiss dashing towards him, with great effort he held the scythe out in her path only for her to use her rapier to knock it up and away leaving him open.

Yang appeared in his peripheral as she quickly spun on her heel slamming her foot into his stomach throwing him back as he slid across the ground, flipping over he managed to right himself as Blake closed the distance as she swung the cleaver with ease nicking him here and there thin red lines appearing across his skin. He stumbled back slightly before pushing himself forward throwing his fist out only for it to be blocked by the broad side of the cleaver but it still knocked her enough to give him room to breathe. But then she disappeared, just vanished, he noticed movement in his peripheral causing him to throw his arm out only to be met with nothing. Again he saw something out of the corner of his eyes as he again threw his arm out only to connect with nothing, he growled in frustration until a black ribbon wrapped around his arm before pulling taut jerking his arm out.

Baring his teeth he pulled his trapped arm towards himself as he used his free hand to grab hold of the ribbon and pulled her forward as he turned pulling the ribbon harder yanking her harder forward before completely turning and throwing his foot out to slam into her stomach knocking her away, much in the same manner as Yang did to him. As she slid across the ground the ribbon on his arm fell loose as he stumbled back as they began to close in on him. A series of emotions flooded through him, but the most prominent was a feeling a pure blinding rage and unfathomable fury, he let instinct take over as he inhaled deeply feeling his lungs expand and burn. He threw his head forward opening his mouth as a stream of white flame shot forward burning the ground and surrounding trees to slam into the girls before him.

A moment later the white-hot flames began to flicker as he collapsed to his knees panting and gasping for breath. He did it, like he promised he would he struck them down for refusing to relent from their dangerous path, then why did he feel empty inside perhaps it was the fact that he struck down a group of children. His fingers dug into the earth as he frowned they should have given up, they should have quit while they were ahead, did they not value their own lives? He looked up towards the devastation he had caused watching the flames eat away at the greenery around him, why couldn't they just-

"Whoa what the hell was that?!" His eyes widened at the sound, as the smoke began to clear he noticed a strange shimmering glyph protecting the four of them from his attack, after a moment it faded as Weiss lowered her arm sighing heavily, "Quick thinking Weiss we would have been toast if it wasn't for you." Yang smacked her in the back causing her to stumble forward before turning and glaring at her.

"H-How...how did you survive?" Weiss turned towards him and glared, she made a strange movement with her hands, a bright light appeared underneath him with the same symbol from earlier. In an instant he was launched into the air before he felt a biting cold strike him across his body. As he returned to the ground he noticed he was being held up in the air by smaller glyphs trapping his hands and legs as he struggled against them, "W-What kind of wretched sorcery is this?!"

The group ignored him as they began to talk amongst themselves ignoring his shouts and struggles, "What do we do with him?" Ruby looked at her team before glancing back at Rodric, "We can't really leave him out here he's a danger to others as much as he is to himself..."

"Yeah no kiddin' but did you see that? How did he breathe fire like that? You think its like his semblance or something?" Yang was pretty curious at that, though it surprised her that he was able to do something like that, not to mention it was pretty strong Weiss was barely able to keep her glyph together against that attack.

"Who knows it could be, but during that whole fight did you notice something odd?" The team turned their attention to Blake who had a concerned look on her face, "He wasn't using his aura to fight us, he was just using raw power, honestly I don't think he knows how to use his aura."

"Don't be ridiculous, of course he knows how to use it, how else would he be able to use his semblance then?" They others gave an unsure look to Weiss before turning to look at Rodric who continue to struggle against the glyphs, "Well what do you purpose we do with him?"

"We kick his ass of course!" Yang activated her gauntlets to emphasize her point.

"W-Wait we can't do that Yang!"

"Well what do you suppose we do with him then Ruby?"

Ruby bit her lip as she looked at her team before turning back to Rodric, "Professor Ozpin might like to have a word with him, after all he can obviously use his semblance without using aura I'm sure he would find that interesting...right?" The others mumbled in agreement, and much to Yang's chagrin she deactivated her weapons and agreed with her sister.

Though she pushed past the others and made her way over to Rodric who could only glare at her, "Well it seems like you have my baby sister to thank for sparring you from one hell of a beat down, but let me just tell you I won't hesitate to put you in your place when I get the chance." Rodric bared his teeth at her only for her to throw her fist out and have it connect with his jaw, his vision swam for a moment before he lost consciousness fading back into the black abyss.


	2. Welcome to Beacon

**_It's a little frustrating going back and spell checking my stories on this site, because it usually tells me that all my more...complicated words are wrong and need to be, essentially dumb down. I would hope none of my readers need these 'oh so hard words' to be made simpler. Anyway It's been awhile since I posted something, I'm glad to know some of you are out there waiting patiently, so be glad to know that I've started to write longer and longer chapters so no you know the reason for taking so long ANWAY enjoy and tell me what you think. _**

* * *

**Welcome to Beacon**

_How could his happen to me, I hadn't been 'alive' that long and now I have been sent back to the void by that wretched girl. _"Sure...don't...hurt..." _Maybe I was in the wrong to pick a fight with them...no they were hunters they deserved to die, they killed too many of my brothers to even warrant mercy. What I didn't expect was them to have some kind of sorceress with them, still how did she withstand that last assault so easily? Were they really that strong, or have I simply grown weak in the frail human body? _"Whose...was...all...responsibility." _Perhaps this is for the best being stuck as a pathetic human limited his power to greatly, perhaps in the next hundred or so aeons he would be reborn as the magnificent being he once was. If that was the case then this whole moment was a big disappointment, why bother giving him life if only to take it away again? It didn't make any sense perhaps- _"Rodric..."

As he opened his eyes a bright light invaded them causing him to shut them once again as he groaned softly, "Shh he's awake." Someone was talking, at least that's what he though, everything was muddled and muffled it was hard to tell anything apart. He tried again to open his eyes but fared no better than before, everything swam in front of him, colors and shapes melded together into unrecognizable forms. "Rodric...are you okay? Can you say something?" He opened his mouth to speak but only incoherent mumbling reached his ears before he paused and groaned again, "I-It's alright just try not to move, you got hit pretty hard..."

"I didn't hit him that hard..." Ruby glared at Yang who merely crossed her arms huffing slightly, "I didn't..." Shaking her head Ruby looked back towards Rodric who seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness, she began to worry that Yang might have caused some irreparable damage to him, she should have realized what Yang was going to do when she walked up to him. She couldn't believe her of all people couldn't see what Yang had been planning, how could she have been so-

"Don't worry yourself over him Ms. Rose, I'm sure our friend here will recover just fine, just give him some time." She glanced up to see Professor Ozpin sitting behind his desk looking over their mission report, she cast a glance back down to Rodric who was restrained to an infirmary bed in the headmaster's office. Ozpin flipped through the papers detailing everything Team RWBY experienced on their mission, though his eyes would stray to the young man resting in the bed from time to time, he had grown more and more curious as to who this man was after RWBY told him everything that happened. He set the papers down as he turned his chair towards the window to reflect on everything that had happened until this point.

* * *

_Sitting in his office Ozpin sipped on his mug of coffee as he went through the daily task of making sure everything was up-to-date in Beacon. He processed school reports, financial reports, detailed progress reports of both student and faculty alike. He even made sure that each class was properly stocked with whatever materials they had needed, suffice to say, whoever said being a headmaster was easy obviously never worked as a headmaster. After scribbling his signature on the last form, he leaned back in his chair giving a weary sigh as he raised his mug to his lips once again, before he could take a drink a low buzzing caught his attention. Hesitating for a second he slowly lowered his mug and reached for his scroll, as he opened it the image of the young leader from RWBY flashed onto the screen. At once he could see that her bright silver eyes were clouded with worry, as much as he wanted to ask what the problem was he remained professional, "Ms. Rose, should I take it that the mission was-"_

_ "There was an incident!" His brow arched at her sudden outburst, though it wasn't a shocking outburst, what was shocking in fact was that there had been some sort of 'incident' as Ruby had said. He had read countless reports of their missions and there were never any incidents aside from the occasional scrapes and bruising Ms. Xiao Long would receive from overexerting herself._

_ "Is everything alright Ms. Rose? Is someone on the team injured?" The girl's head turned as she glanced at someone off-screen, it was faint but he was able to hear Ms. Schnee mutter something along the lines of 'I'm fine.'_

_ "Um...sort of?" Again the headmaster arched his brow at her uncertainty, she called him to inform him of an incident, but now she was answering his question with a question. "It's kinda hard to explain." The screen moved as she turned it to face a young man laying across the seat of the Bullhead seemingly restrained with ropes as well as Ms. Schnee's glyphs. Again the screen turned to show Ruby, "You see this guy just showed up out of nowhere and started to talk all weird telling us what we were doing was dangerous before he started fighting us and then he breathed fire at us and we thought we were goners but Weiss was able to protect us by using-"_

_ "Ms. Rose..." At his voice she quickly stopped her ramblings, "Perhaps you should wait to inform me of what happened, I'll ready a bed for the young man, but I want all of you to report to my office when you return to be debriefed. Is that understood?"_

_ "Of course professor we'll be there as soon as we arrive." The call disconnected, Ozpin stared at his scroll a moment longer before finally setting it down. He reached across his desk and pressed a button on his intercom to inform his assistant, Professor Goodwitch, about what to expect in the next few minuets. She was as taken off guard as he expected her to be, nevertheless she called the infirmary and informed them to bring up a bed for an injured 'student.' She questioned him as to what exactly was going on, but he merely informed her that he had no idea, aside from the mysterious young man and Ms. Roses ramblings it was impossible to tell exactly what had happened. _

_ Not long after the bed was brought to the office did Team RWBY as well as the young man enter through the doorway, he watched as they brought him towards the bed and rather unceremoniously dropped him onto it. He arched his brow at the action as well as when they started to secure him to the bed, he said nothing as he placed a small recording device on his desk before hitting the red record button, "Now, can you please tell me everything, and I mean everything that happened on that mission..."_

* * *

Ozpin glanced down at the recorder in his hands as he had yet reached a decision about everything he had heart until now, "Professor..." Glancing up towards the window he let out a soft sigh before turning his chair back towards the group.

"I apologize, it seems like all of you went through a great ordeal on this mission, but I am glad to see you all returned relatively unharmed. But, for now you are free to return to your dorms, I have much that needs to be done regarding this issue as well as our new...guest. Please take some time to rest, you've all earned it." They group nodded and quickly left the office chattering amongst themselves, once they were gone his attention went right to the young man on the bed before him. Slowly standing he made his way over to him, with his footsteps echoing in the rather quiet room he quickly noticed how the young man's breathing seemed to quick ever so slightly. However, he said nothing about it as he looked over the man's face taking in his features before using his fingers to open his eyes. At the action he could feel that he resisted ever so slightly, it seemed their unconscious guest wasn't quiet so unconscious as he had suspected. "Glynda..." His assistant quickly made his way over to him.

"Yes professor?"

"Please take our guest to the infirmary to have him checked out, I would like to speak with him the moment he...wakes up." She gives a firm nod before waving with her hand causing the bed to begin moving on its own, as it makes its way to the door he speaks up once again, "Also Ms. Goodwitch..." She turns to look at him a bit surprised at the formality, "Keep an eye on him." His voice was firm which would seem strange given the context but nonetheless she nodded before heading out of the office. Now that he found himself alone once again he glanced down at the recorder he held in his hands, even with everything he had heard none of it made any sense to him, giving another weary sigh he pressed play on the recorder.

* * *

_"From the way it sounded...he might have killed other hunters..." _Rewind. _"He might have killed other hunters..." _Rewind. _"Killed other hunters..." _Ozpin stopped the recording as he leaned back in his chair, this greatly disturbed him, if this young man did in fact kill other hunters, which was a rather large possibility given that he blatantly attacked his students. Then having him in a school meant for hunters might be putting others at this same risk, the safest thing he could have done was call the authorities and have them take him to a hospital under their watch, but...this young man intrigued him. To what end, he couldn't say though he knew once the young man decided to talk he would have his answer. The light buzzing from his scroll meant that his young guest might finally be ready to have a little chat with him, he opened his scroll and instantly it showed him the image of his assistant, "Glynda, why I was getting ready to head down to the infirmary in a moment. Has our guest finally-"

_"Ozpin you need to get down here this instant, the young man has-" _There was a loud crash in the background followed by shouting from the staff as well as the young man as he seemed to be resisting them. _"You need to sedate him this instant...just hold him down and do it! Professor, this young man is a danger we need to get the proper-" _A loud crash caused her to drop her scroll but the call continued to play, everything sounded much more distant that it had before, _"Young man stop this instant or I will be forced to use-" _She cried out in surprise as something loud shattered.

_"You have no authority over me woman, now remove yourself from the door before I remove you myself!" _There were sounds of a struggle before a loud crash echoed through the room.

"Ms. Goodwitch?!"

Silence filled the call before he was able to hear heavy breathing, _"Perhaps you'll do better to not underestimate this 'woman' again young-"_

_ "Look out!" _White flames licked across the floor multiple times causing the staff to cry out in fear and shock.

"Glynda!" The flames enveloped the screen before the call was quickly dropped, he stood there in shock for a moment before steeling himself. He grabbed his cane before quickly hurrying down to the infirmary.

* * *

"How many of you accursed sorcerers are there?!" Rodric panted heavily as the flames coating the room instantly vanished with a swipe of the strange catalyst she wielded, he could feel his strength waning, nevertheless he fought on. Reaching to his side he took hold of the strange piece of metal next to him, attached to it were various bags of fluid, gripping it tightly he raised it over his head before hurling it at the older woman. Again she made strange hand gestures, though this time there was no strange glyph, no this time the air grew colder by the second before the metal device frosted over and crashed to the ground. Gritting his teeth his eyes widened when she made another gesture but this time having a row of jagged icicles rushing towards him, he tossed himself aside landing safely behind one of the beds as the ice crashed into the wall.

"Glynda!" Rodric looked up at the shout seeing the door fly open, the older man from earlier had burst into the room, his chest heaving with each breath. _Did he run the entire way here? _"Glynda...are you alright? Are you hurt?"

The older woman, Glynda, brushed some ash from her shoulder before glaring in his direction, "I'm fine Ozpin, nothing I can't handle. It was merely a temper tantrum thrown by a child..."

Rodric grit his teeth as his rage began to rise and boil, _How dare she, how dare that wench call me a child! _He gripped the side of the bed to help him stand, but a different idea came to him as a wicked smirk cross his lips, "How's this for a child!" He gripped the bed with both hands and with all the strength he could muster flipped it towards the two of them, the last thing he saw was the older man, Ozpin pushing Glynda out of the way. A sound of scraping metal filled the room as the bed crashed against the wall, though not as he expected, each half of the bed rested on either side of the two before him, "H-How is that possible what-"

"Glynda..." Ozpin lowered his cane to the ground as he adjusted his glasses, "Please give us a moment alone, there are a few things I wish to discuss with...Rodric." Glynda looked at him as if he spoke a foreign language, was he being serious did he seriously want to be left _alone _with this deranged man.

"Ozpin you can't possible be-"

"Glynda..." He turned his head slightly, she froze up under his gaze, his eyes were cold and hard something she rarely saw from the stoic headmaster she had grown to know. She opened her mouth to respond but found her words failing her as she quickly nodded, she motioned for the staff to do the same as they all quickly filed out of the room. Once the last nurse left Glynda spared a glance back towards Ozpin and Rodric before leaving the room, all that was left was silence as the only two occupants glared at each other.

"For someone much older you aren't very wise old man, what do you think you can possibly do against someone like-"

"Silence." That was the only word that the older man before him spoke, but with that one word he felt a heavy weight connected to it causing him to physically stumble back slightly. He was taken aback by the sheer arrogance this man had for speaking to him in such a way.

"How dare you speak to me like that! What makes you think you hold any power over-"

"I. Said. Be. Quiet." Again the tone that left the man's lips actually caused Rodric to pause, who was this man, why did he hold so much authority over him? More importantly, why was he actually listening to him, Ozpin was a mere human he would never lower himself to actually listening to someone like- "Sit down." Against his own will Rodric found himself sitting on the edge of the remaining bed, he grit his teeth in rage, why did his body betray his will? He glared up at the man before him watching as he took a seat in a chair in front of him, "You attack my students, you attack my staff, and you attack me...why is that?"

_Why? WHY?! _This man run's a school training mere children to be hunters and he has the audactiy to ask him why he attacked them. "Because of what you are..." He growled out, "You humans cause nothing but destruction and pain, and you hunters are the worst of all, blindly following the ones in charge to your deaths, you are all merely sheep being led to the slaughter!" He spit in the man's direction his gaze boring into his eyes, "You hunters can't be trusted, you've killed many of my brothers I feel it is only fair to repay you in kind!"

Ozpin gripped his cane and it only caused Rodric to smirk, "What hunters have you killed and how many?"

Rodric's smirk only grew larger, "Oh I've killed hundred of thousands, whole battalions, militias, armies worth of hunters all fell before me. Every single one of them chose their fate and I simply delivered it to them, and I will continue to do so because-"

Ozpin slammed the tip of his cane onto the tile creating a hollow echo which, surprisingly enough, caused Rodric to flinch, "Enough...why are you doing this?"

The grin instantly vanished from Rodric's face as he bowed his head glaring at the cracked tile, "Why...Because human's are liars and deceivers, once they have no use for you they simply toss you aside. If they feel you've become to much of a threat for their pristine lives they aim to wipe you off the face of the planet...they will pursue you to the ends of the world, destroying everything you hold dear just to get to you." He grit his teeth as his emotions began to flare up, "No matter who it is...they'll destroy it, but they will regret it. I won't stop...not until they all pay, until they all suffer the pain I-" He choked up as he scoffed glaring back up at Ozpin, "Enough with these games what do you want from me?"

"We'll get to that young man, first I want to ask you a few questions..." Rodric scoffed but said nothing more as he awaited the questions, "Firstly, how did you get here?"

Rodric visibly winced at the question as he gripped the firm mattress of the bed, "I...I don't recall..." It wasn't a lie, more of a half truth, while he did recall the events in the forest he couldn't quiet seem to recall anything beyond that. He knew he awakened in the forest, but now he wasn't quiet so sure where or how he awoke, it seemed all memory of his 'awakening' were steadily growing more and more hazy.

"It's quiet alright, you don't need to force the memory. But, secondly my students as well as myself witnessed you ahem 'breathing fire', is this your semblance?"

Rodric frowned slightly, "I know not what this 'semblance' is but my abilities comes to me as easy as breathing does for you humans. But..." He looked down at his body examining his arms and what he could of his back until neck began to ache, "It seems I've lost a number of my abilities when I awoke in the pathetic excuse for a body..." He clenched his fists until they ached before releasing his grip, he couldn't believe he lost his old body just to have it replaced with something as lowly and fragile as a human's body, all his strength and power was gone now. Being stuck in the same room as this human and having this fact thrust upon him began to frustrate him, "Enough questions, now you answer mine. What do you want with me?"

"I want you to stay here." Rodric could only gape at the man before him, was he being serious? Did he not just hear everything he said? He killed hunters what would make him think that he would stay for even a moment longer in a place like- "It seems you've had a troubled past, from what it sounds like you've had run ins with the scum of humanity." This caught Rodric's attention and for once he was actually willing to listen to what the man had to say, "Yes, I am...was a hunter so my promise might not mean a thing to you, but I swear we humans aren't as bad as we seem." Rodric scoffed at that, "We've come a long way from the dark ages, we've made leaps and bounds in technology, we've only survived this long because of the hunters and because of our willingness to work _together._" Rodric frowned, he found that hard to believe, humans were incapable of working together, all they wrought was pain and destruction and so much worse if it meant furthering their own needs.

Still, he could sense that the man's words rang with truth, why was he so inclined to trust this...this _human. _"Why? After everything I've done to you and your kind why are you extending this offer to me of all people?"

Ozpin merely stared at him and stayed silent for a long period, the silence was thick and sitting under his gaze made Rodric squirm on the bed slightly. "I can see it in you, under all the rage and hate, there's a spark of hope. A small spark that wants things to change, you want to believe that we humans are capable of more than just harm, you want us to do good." Rodric looked away frowning, _How could he know something like that? _During his encounter with the four females, he noticed that they didn't have the same cold blooded eyes most hunters would have, he could see the fire of peace and hope burning within them. It made him wonder if humans had truly changed for the better, but the years of violence and torment he went through made their flame seem like an ember in an all encompassing darkness of hate.

He opened his mouth to respond but was swiftly cut of by the man, "There's no need to respond so quickly, I will allow you time to mull it over, in the mean time I must ask you to resist attacking my staff while you stay here. If you can't abide by my one request I am more than willing to move you to a more...secure area, though I have doubts you will enjoy being _caged._" Rodric frowned, not at his words, but at the thought that the man assumed he wasn't already caged. Being stuck in a school for hunters, being confined to this weak human vessel, little did the man know but Rodric already was caged, caged in this new and cursed life. "However..." The mans voice pulled him from his thoughts as he looked up and glared at him, "Seeing as you are in the infirmary I would greatly appreciate it, if you would not further injure those who come here seeking care."

A low rumbling growl resonated through the room as Rodric bared his teeth, "How typical of your kind, to assume that I am no more than a heartless monster, I do not prey on the weak though I cannot say the same for your kind. Those that come here for healing and shelter will not be bothered by me, I can assure you." Rodric slid off the bed and moved to one further in the corner, after righting its position he sat back on it glaring at the older man, "Is that all?" Ozpin nodded and turned to leave as Rodric grumbled under his breath, still confused as to how a frail old man could have so much control over him. But, he knew all human appearances were deceiving, where a jolly king hid a ruthless tyrant, so too could an older man hide someone of great power. Behind the man's calm demeanor and monotone voice, there was something hidden that demanded respect, not willed it _demanded _it, and Rodric could do nothing but obey and submit. "Bah...humans..."

* * *

Ozpin closed the door as he exited only to meet the worried expression of Glynda on the other side, he merely glanced at her for a moment before heading off down the hallway, "Professor are you alright? What happened in there?"

"Nothing, we merely talked." Stated the professor in a rather matter-of-fact sort of tone, "Though I was able to discern why he has such a strong hate towards humans." A curious hum was all he received from the professor that followed in his wake, "It seems our young guest has had a run in with some very despicable groups of humans, possible at some early stage in his life, leading to his extreme hatred for them." They were silent for a long while the only sound that was heard was the muffled footsteps of both professors, in the end it was Glynda who broke the silence.

"How does he perceive the Faunus?"

"I...I don't think he knows what they are..."

"What?!" Glynda stopped for a moment utterly shocked that someone could not know who Faunus were, she understood if they didn't know much about them but to have completely no idea was just...unheard of. "I-I don't...how can someone not know who the Faunus are, after everything they've gone through even the people who hate them still know who they-"

"Before you continue, Glynda, I simply meant that he seemed to focus more on his hatred for humans. He either has never run in to a Faunus who he hated, or simply doesn't care for them...which could in turn pose a problem to what I have decided on doing." He continued on after having paused, normally this would go against the rules he had set for the school but seeing as they would have more...experience dealing with Rodric it would only make sense that he start here. Halting in front of one of the many doors in the hallway, he gently knocked on it, a slightly muffled scuffle and low arguing could be heard.

Glynda looked at Ozpin then towards the door, "Professor, what are we doing at-"

The door flew open revealing the young leader of Team RWBY as she looked up towards the headmaster, "P-Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch-"

_"Oh crap..."_

Ruby chuckled nervously as she looked at the both of them, "W-What can I do for the both of you?"

"Ms. Rose, I would like to discuss something important with you and your team."

Ruby turned and looked towards her team who merely shrugged not really sure what to say about something like this, "Oh um...of course come in..."

* * *

_How frustrating, _Rodric thought to himself, here he was finally alone and yet he still kept his word to that man about staying put, and for what? Some authority he commanded, something about that man frustrated Rodric to no end, he would find out what forced him to obey. Nevertheless, he was still glad, after a few of the other children came and went the staff seemed to leave him be meaning he was alone in silent room. _At least I can enjoy some peace and quiet before-_

"N-Nurse?"

Sigh. _Never mind, _opening one of his eyes Rodric glanced at the door to see who it was that interrupted his peace, only to see that it was again another child though this time it was a girl.

"O-Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

Rodric closed his eyes and turned his back on the girl.

"Wake...you..." Velvet bit her lip as she watched the boy completely ignore her, she began to have second thoughts about being here, seeing as there was no nurse around. But her team wanted her to be checked out after she had been complaining about her wrist hurting for the last few days, Coco said it was most likely a sprain, but then again it could have just been her worrying again. Still, once she 'determined' what the cause was she pestered Velvet until she broke down and decided to go to the nurses office, and what did that get her, "No nurse..." She muttered to herself.

"They stepped out for a moment." Velvet jumped slightly when the boy suddenly spoke up again, "If you wish to stay they should return shortly, they seem to have some sort of schedule set so they should be back...in about twenty or so minuets." The room was silent for a moment, he had considered turning around to see if she was still there but he couldn't be bothered, it wasn't his place to worry about the children here. At least he didn't have to bother explaining the mess to anyone, the doctors had come in not long after that man, Ozpin, left and promptly cleaned everything up in the span of a few minuets. He hadn't bothered looking, but when the first child came in they didn't say anything other than what ailed them, meaning that everything must have been set in it's proper place and tidied up.

A few moments later the sound of the bed squeaking reached his ears, apparently she decided to stay, at least now he would be able to, "So...a-are you doing alright?" He gave an internal sigh as he decided to ignore her, he didn't understand why humans always had to converse with others, especially when it was clear the other did not want to be a part of it. "Um...a-are you one of the n-new transfer students?" He bit his tongue and kept his breathing even to try and look like he was asleep, if he managed to fool her then perhaps she would leave him be. It seemed he had won in the end, she hadn't spoken to him in the last few minuets, but where she was once talking to him was replaced with muttered words and hushed whimpers.

Against his better judgment he slowly looked over his shoulder, as he did he caught as she was wiping tears from her eyes, closing his eyes he grit his eyes in frustration. _Why..._As he opened his eyes again he fully turned around startling her as she jumped slightly at the sudden noise, "What seems to be the-" It was then he finally took notice of the girl, she seemed to be just as average as any other female he had seen, though her long chocolate colored hair caught his attention there was something else that held his attention. Atop her head sat a large pair of brown rabbit ears, he had never seen anything like this before and it made him wonder if they were real..._N-No of course not they couldn't possibly be real..._

Wiping her eyes, Velvet had heard the boy say something but didn't quiet catch it, "I-I'm sorry what did you-" Her voice caught in her throat when she realized that his gaze was transfixed on her, she could feel heat rising to her cheeks as he continued to stare at her. She tried to speak but every time she looked back up and saw him looking she couldn't quiet form the words, _W-Why is he looking at me like that..._A dozen reasons raced through her mind and each one cause her cheeks to grow a deeper shade of red as breathing became somewhat difficult, _S-Stop it brain...th-that's not why he's looking at me. _

Rodric threw his legs over the bed but his gaze never left the ears attached to the girls head, they seemed to twitch and move as she did, meaning that they were in fact real. He stood up and made his way over tot he bed she was sitting on, his eyes never leaving hers, he didn't know why he felt the need to be cautious but something about her seemed to show that she might run off at a moments notice.

_H-He's coming over here...w-what do I do? _Her mind was a mess, part of her told her to just run back to her team and deal with her wrist another day, but another part told her to stand her ground, she needed to stop running when something scared her. If she couldn't deal with this boy's stares how was she ever going to deal with something worse, like Cardin. _Okay...okay what was that thing Coco told me to do. Um...oh right just smile and give him a small wink if he's- _She shook her head furiously as her cheeks began to heat up again, _No no that was the wrong thing she said to um- _she felt the bed squeak slightly as she opened her eyes and saw the boy sitting on the end of the bed, his hard gaze still directed at her. _O-Oh no w-what do I do w-what does he-_

"What...what are you?"

"Eh?"

* * *

Team RWBY looked at one another unsure of what to make of the request that Ozpin had asked of them. Even their young leader seemed stumped, as much as she would have gladly accepted this request was...rather unusual and not to mention possibly dangerous. "Professor..." Weiss started, she had be the most unsure about this request from the very beginning, the moment the headmaster had entered their dorm she had a very strong feeling of what this was concerning...still. "With all due respect, why would you think this is a good idea?" The other three members of RWBY looked at her with varying displays of shock that she of all people would openly question Ozpin, "I-I mean for one aren't there only suppose to be four members to a team? Also, he _attacked us_ we can't overlook that main point sir, what if he tries to attack us again?"

"Then I'm sure you four would be able to detain him once again and bring him to my office if things get out of hand." Ozpin spoke with such confidence as he watched the girls before him look to each other in doubt. He didn't blame them after going up against someone like him he would be surprised if they didn't have any concerns whatsoever.

"Alright, say we do take him in..." Blake threw her legs over the edge of her bed crossing her arms, "what benefit would we get out of having someone like _him _here. What does he get out being here with us, I mean we were the ones who fought and brought him here, I doubt he's going to be thrilled to be with us as well."

"Right you are Ms. Belladonna, as for what benfits you will all receive lessons and understanding. I'm sure none of you are aware but it seems our guest has had terrible run ins with humans, so much so to the point he utterly despises them. I'm hoping that if he stays here, maybe, just maybe we could change his view on them and if we are successful we would have another student fighting along side us in the pursuit of a better world." The girls started to say something but he continued nonetheless, "It must be hard. To live a life so clouded in anger and hate, over what a scarce group of people did to you. Perhaps if he were to see the grey in such a black and white view maybe his ideals would change, perhaps this is the reason the White Fang-"

Blake's ears perked up at the mention of the White Fang, hoping the professor would continue was met with disappointment as he shook his head, "Never mind, so Team RWBY what do you say?"

Once again Team RWBY looked to each other for an answer, but no one seemed to know what to say, still the headmaster was waiting and they had to give him an answer. "U-um well..."

* * *

"E-Excuse me?" Velvet had been taken aback by the boys straight forward question, sure she was used to the occasional question of 'what kind of faunus are you?' from the exchange students but never something like this.

"What are you I've never seen anything like you before?"

Of course something like that might have sounded...sweet had it not been the tone he used. It bothered Velvet that he was honestly so confused and curious about what she was, but she wasn't as outspoken as Coco was who, in this case would have told off this boy. "I-I'm a rabbit faunus, I-I'm sure you much have-"

"A what?"

She flinched slightly at his question, but she did notice something, he didn't ask her in a sarcastic way like others would have. No, his voice sounded sincere which made her curious, _Could he honestly not know what a faunus is..._she looked to the boy and saw him still gazing at her but the curiosity shined behind his eyes..._where did he come from._

* * *

"Ruby you can't be serious! You saw what happened out there, or did you really forget that fast?" Weiss was furious, and that was only putting it midly, she couldn't believe what their young leader had just agreed to.

"Hey lay off Weiss...Look Ruby usually I would be behind you on your decisions but...do you really think this was the right choice?" Yang was worried for Ruby, sure she was made their leader months ago but maybe asking her to make such an important decision was to big a task, "I mean you heard all that stuff he was spouting about humans and hunters right? That should show that there is something seriously messed up in his head, and then semblance of his...what if he decides to use that and torch our room while were out, or worse...asleep."

"You guys didn't you hear what Ozpin said? Clearly this all stems from something a lot worse than what were seeing, I mean what if he's right? What if the reason he's like this is because of...because of a rogue hunter?" The rest of the team suddenly got quiet at the question, it was no secret that some hunters lose their way and fall into a life of crime and murder to fuel their psychotic desires. If they went by how old Rodric looked it could be assumed that maybe his family was attacked by a rogue hunter some 17 odd years ago, it would lead him to have a deep resentment to humans as well as other hunters. "I mean we can at least give it a try right? If we don't see any changes in him then...then we'll just tell Ozpin and he will figure out what to do with him from their, yeah?"

Weiss, Blake, and Yang looked at each other for a moment wondering about the whole situation. None of them were sure what to make of something like this, but if what Ruby suggested actually happened then this could be a chance to repair some damage done to his mind. If they did this then they could save someone's soul and as Ozpin had said they would have a new ally to fight with against the darkness, with various sounds of agreement Ruby couldn't help but cheer, she was at least happy to know she didn't make the wrong decision.

* * *

Rodric sat, enraptured by the girls explanation of what she was, it was easy to say that she was very knowledgeable though it was hard to imagine why she was at a school for training hunters. She didn't seem to be violent at all, no, by the way she acted around him she would be what the humans called...shy. "Interesting...so there are more of you...you faunus correct?"

Velvet nodded, it was strange she never met anyone that had never heard of faunus but she was glad to give someone a decent impression of the population as a whole. Hopefully Rodric would grow to be one of the more decent members of society that treated faunus as his equal rather than something below him. "You know Rodric I-I find it a little strange that you never heard of faunus before..."

"That's because I've never seen one of your kind before, there were always humans where I once lived, perhaps your kind was in a different part of the land than where I roamed."

"O-Oh..." Things only got stranger, where could he have possibly lived that had no faunus anywhere in the area, faunus lived on pretty much every part of Remnant though some areas were harder on them than others. "M-Might I ask w-where are you-"

The door to the infirmary opened and much to Rodric's displeasure Ozpin had returned, though it unnerved him how much...cheerier the man seemed. _What is he planning... _"Forgive my interruption but Rodric I must speak with you on an important matter."

"What is it old man?" Velvet gasped in astonishment at the way he called Ozpin, and it only made Rodric's smirk deepen when he noticed the stoic man's jaw tick slightly.

"You're going to meet your new team."


	3. A Figment of Days Gone By

_**Well I finally posted a new chapter after who knows how long, trust me guys I didn't try to take so long, things have just been getting out of hand here with work and everything, I just needed a break to relax. And that means I was playing Reaper of Souls for the last few days nonstop. Anyway I don't know if any of you have noticed or are aware but I have a Deviant Art page where I will be posting pictures relating to my OC's and scenes from my stories. The link to said page is on my profile but if you don't want to do that just go here: deceiverofthegods. deviantart. com right now I just have a picture of my very first OC from A Beast Am I (which will be updated soon enough relax) but there will be more posted soon enough. And before you ask no I am not the one who draws them, I can't draw hell I can barely write I have commissioned a friend to draw them for me she is mentioned and linked in the pictures. Anyway thank you all for being so patient R&R and see you in the next one.**_

* * *

**A Figment of Days Gone By**

"I don't like this..." The rest of Team RWBY nodded in agreement as they turned their gaze towards Rodric who was busy looking around the dorm room. "He looks a lot calmer I'll give him that, but that doesn't mean he won't snap in an instant..." There was a murmur of agreement amongst themselves as they watched him make his way over tot heir beds, examining them. "Anyway what are we suppose to do now? We can't just neglect our assignments because he's here right?" Blake nodded in agreement but both Yang and Ruby groaned in annoyance, "You two didn't think you were going to get a free pass did you? Just because we have...a guest doesn't mean you two can start slacking off."

"How do you sleep on these infernal contraptions?" He tugged on of the ropes holding the bed afloat as it groaned slightly.

"Classes don't matter at this point, how are we going to deal with him, I mean not only is he a danger but...you know?" The others looked at Ruby not exactly sure what she was trying to say, she stuttered slightly before thrusting her hand out in his direction. "H-He's a guy..." The others looked at him before turning back to their leader still just as confused as before.

"Yeah..."

"What about it?"

"And that means..."

Ruby huffed in frustration stomping her foot, "I mean what if...you know..." She lowered her voice so much that the other three had to lean in closer to hear her properly, "what if he...tries something?" The other three looked a her curiously before realization dawned on each of them, their faces all flushing various shades of red. Yang was the only one of out of them smirking as her face flushed as she turned towards him eying him up and down.

"Well he'd be very brave..."

"You brute! This is a serious problem how could we have not thought of this before, what were we thinking agreeing to have a guy stay with us.."

"You do know that there are co-ed teams all throughout Beacon...right?" They all looked to Blake who looked curiously at them, "You didn't forget did you?" Yang's smirk never left her face, while Weiss smacked her head clearly ashamed for getting worked up over nothing, Ruby rubbed her head chuckling nervously to herself.

"H-Heh...oops."

"Alright...where am I to rest for the night?" He turned towards the group of girls who had been conversing with themselves since he had arrived, he knew not of what they spoke of but it mattered little to him. After he asked they all turned towards him eying him curiously, clearly they must not have heard him, "Where am I to sleep to-"

"Yeah, yeah we heard you."

"On the floor where do you think?"

He raised his brow at this as he glared at the girl in white, "Excuse me?" He could feel his anger rising but his word to that old man kept him from acting on it. He instantly regretted his promise, he wasn't about to let some pompous girl speak to him like that, "Clearly you have forgotten girl, the old man clearly stated that I was now a member of this team so-"

"Are you stupid?" He jaw ticked as he clenched his fists, "There are five of us and four beds, where do you think you're going to sleep genius?" He slowed his breathing as he turned on his heel and walked over to the bed laying beneath the precariously hung bed and slid into the space turning his back towards them, "Just what do you think you're doing?!" He huffed slightly keeping his back towards them, the bed smelled like Weiss, he frowned slightly but ignored it. "I demand that you answer me this-"

"Clearly from your question you were allowing me to choose a bed and I chose this one, thank you for being so considerate _Weiss_." He sneered her name as he pulled the blanket over himself and settled in for the night, he could still hear the girl huffing and fuming behind him but he ignored her as he closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him.

Weiss was beyond furious as she tried to quell her anger, snippets of curses slipped past her lips as she fumed about the room, "Weiss chill just sleep somewhere else, it's getting late anyway we should-"

"Oh what a brilliant idea Yang and where do you propose I sleep hmm?!" Yang merely rolled her eyes and disappeared into the bathroom to change into her pajamas, Weiss was still fuming as she eyed the boy in her bed, she couldn't believe this. Her eyes began to dart around the room searching for something, "Where's Myrtenaster I'm going to take care of this right-"

"Weiss..." Ruby placed her hand on her shoulder stopping the older girl as she sighed softly, "Just let it go, just for tonight alright? We'll see if we can get an extra bed or something from Ozpin tomorrow okay?" Weiss glared at Ruby but nodded nonetheless, "Now if you're not upset anymore, heh, which you still kind of are...y-you can sleep with me if that makes you feel better?"

"Why would that make me feel better?"

"Cause it's better than the floor?"

"..." Weiss didn't want to admit it, but it was a much better alternative than sleeping on the hard floor, without a blanket. She pinched the bridge of her nose frowning, she tried to make it seem like she was struggling to decided even though she had already decided what she was going to do, "Fine." Her frowned deepened when Ruby threw her arms around her hopping up and down excitedly, "Oh joy."

* * *

His eyes fluttered open roughly an hour or so after everything quieted down, he remained still for a few moments after waking up, just to be sure that everyone else was asleep. He tossed the blanket off of himself and quickly retreated from the bed, it was a bit...uncomfortable to sleep in such a thing, he was used to sleeping on harder surfaces so it was really strange. He looked around the room and without all the noise it seemed a decent environment to stay in, with the floor bathed in moonlight it reminded him of his old home. He made his way over towards the window when a low groan caught his attention, turning towards the bed he noticed the girl in white sleeping on the hanging bed although she pushed herself towards the very edge of it. He frowned slightly intending to ignore her, but he couldn't, he moved over to her and slipped his arms under her legs and back lifting her from her spot and laying her in the bed he had stole from her. Almost instantly she stretched out and seemed more comfortable, he shook his head, surely she would question him in the morning but he didn't care about that.

Slowly pushing the window open he gazed about the darkened landscape, the grounds of the school were covered in strange white stone that was caved in such strange shapes. There were pillars and arches strewn about with stone pathways leading in all different directions, and he could see part of a man made pond from the room he resided in, it must have been massive to be partially seen from here. A soft breeze blew through the room as he closed his eyes feeling the winds caressing his face, _Everything feel's the same yet..._he opened his eyes as they gazed towards the sky as they widened at the sight of the shattered moon, _nothing is. _He climbed up and threw his legs out of the window as he sat there looking about the darkness, it was the first time since awakening that he felt at peace, the darkness and pale light of the moon calmed his nerves and put him at ease. He closed his eyes again as another breeze blew against his face, as it slowly faded his eyes reaming closed for much longer, _This place..._

"Ngh...h-huh Weiss? Oh, Rodric what are you-" He held his hand up silencing her, even after he lowered it she remained silent as she watched him, _What's he doing? _She looked at him before climbing out of bed and making her way to him, "A-Are you alright?" He said nothing as she merely watched him, she looked out the window and didn't see anything worth looking at, sure it was a beautiful sight but nothing she hadn't seen before. "Rodric what are you-"

"There." He quickly stood up as heart heart clenched in her chest, he wasn't planning on jumping was he, nevertheless she grabbed the back of his shirt holding tight to it. He outstretched his arms as a strong gust of wind blew hard around him making a wide smile cross over his face, predicting the wind still came naturally to him, and feeling that cold gust of air rushing over his face felt like heaven.

"Whoa..." Ruby had used her hand to guard it from the strong gust that blew through the dorm room, she had felt strong gusts before but this one felt strange to her it was different than most. The wind felt like it was surrounding her, holding her, protecting her, as she closed her eyes she could feel the air moving along her skin so slowly and tenderly it could be compared to a gentle touch. As the feeling moved along her body and up towards her face she couldn't help but let a large smile spread over her lips, she never experienced the wind like this, something she felt on a daily basis never felt as amazing as this. As the wind rushed through her hair her eyes shot open as she heard something akin to a soft whisper, it was gentle but loud enough to be noticed, and in an instant it was gone as was the gentle breeze as it slowly faded away. She watched as Rodric sat back on the windowsill as she stared out into the night sky, "W-What was that..."

"That child was anáil na gaoithe, the wind's breath." He closed his eyes sighing softly as he listened to the gentle rustling of the leaves from the not so far off forest. Even now in this strange time he finds himself in, the wind's breath was still here and it hadn't seemed to change but it whispered of strange things to him, things he didn't understand.

"But...but what _is _it?"

"Honestly child..." He huffed slightly shaking his head as he looked up towards the shattered moon, "the wind's breath is the very essence that guides us along our paths, it's something I learned long ago to use. It's helped me on numerous occasions, leading me towards things I would have taken to long to find on my own..." He gazed out towards the forest staring into the darkness, "...I shouldn't have left." He blinked when his eyes began to ache a brief imagine of smoke filling his mind before he shook the memory away.

"What did you say?"

He turned slightly seeing the young girl sitting next to him as he frowned slightly, "Shouldn't you be asleep girl?" She huffed puffing out her cheeks as she crossed her arms, before glaring up at him with her bright silver eyes.

"Hmph, what about you? Shouldn't you be doing the same?" He looked at her before smirking as he turned back towards the dark forest, he could help but let out a low chuckle. She was brave he would give her that, where the rest of her team seemed to fear him she was either to naïve to know any better or was just as he saw her, a reckless child.

"I can't sleep, this place is to different than what I'm used to, I don't think I would be able to rest even if I was tired." He huffed and leaned forward slightly, "There's too many things to see and it gives me a feeling of restlessness, perhaps when and if I settle in I'll be able to rest easier." He chuckled softly, "That is a big if though..." He leaned his shoulder against the side of the window as he sighed heavily, he had doubts that he would ever get used to this place, it was too drastically different to even know what to start with.

"Rodric...can I...can I ask you something?" He gave a small hum as he leaned against the window, biting her lip Ruby looked towards her sleeping teammates before glancing back towards Rodric. Considering everything that happened not even a few hours ago she wasn't sure it was wise to bring up the events of the forest, but from the way he had yelled at them she wanted to know why. "Why...w-why can't you just call me by my name..." She wanted to know why but didn't have the courage to ask him so outright, and then what if she angered him and he attacked them, it wouldn't be pretty or very easy to explain.

He turned to look curiously at her, "Your name? I've called you by your name plenty of times."

Ruby huffed giving him a mocking glare, "No you haven't! All you've called me is girl and child, not to mention the only name you seem to remember is Weiss, but then you say it with such an attitude." She puffed her cheeks out, "The least you could do is remember our names since your going to be staying here..." She looked at him as he gave a heavy sigh before shaking his head.

"Fine..."

Her face lit up as a large smile came across it, "Great I'm Ruby!" She threw her legs over the windowsill as she turned around to face the dorm room. She pointed to the bed where he had placed the girl in white, "That's Weiss b-but I'm sure you knew that already h-heh..." She looked at him before clearing her throat and pointing towards the opposite side of the room and the bed that sat atop the pile of books, "That's my sister Yang and that's-guh..."

He followed her gaze towards the bottom bed where a pair of bright amber eyes glared at them from the darkness of the room, "I'm Blake...Ruby do you know what time it is?" He turned towards the younger girl whose face was red with embarrassment as she stuttered out a few words none of which made sense.

"U-um I uh...w-well what are you doing up B-Blake?" Ruby held her head up high a small smirk on her lips feeling that she had gotten the upper hand on Blake.

A frown marred her face as she seemed to glare at Ruby, "I'm up because you two are talking too loud..." Her glare shifted towards Rodric before going back to Ruby, "You should be in bed we have classes tomorrow, you know." Ruby's face fell as she muttered something to herself, "I don't think Yang would appreciate her sister speaking like that, hmm?" Ruby's entire body went stiff as Rodric looked over to Blake who's eyes seemed to be shining with amusement.

"F-Fine I-I was getting tired anyway..." She slid from her spot next to him and quickly climbed up to her precariously placed bed, she stopped for a moment and looked towards him, "Goodnight Rodric..." With that she quickly slid under her blankets but not before tossing one last glare in Blake's direction.

"Goodnight little one."

A scoff from the darkness caught his attention as he turned towards the glowing amber eyes as he frowned slightly, "And what, may I ask, is so funny?" He slid from his spot in the window and moved over towards the bed that Blake lay in as she sat up a glare slowly settling in her eyes.

"Where's all that anger that you held when we first met in the forest hmm?" Now that he was closer he was closer he could see the corner of her mouth twitch upwards into a small smirk as he frowned gripping the bed frame of the one above hers in his hand as he clenched it tightly.

"Oh believe me Blake it is still there..." The wood began to groan under his grip as his eyes stayed locked with Blake's, "It would just so happen I...am restricting myself from causing too much damage to this school, that is all." He pushed away from the bed leaving his mark on the wood as he turned back towards the window.

"Well if that's the case then why did you attack us back in the forest?"

He turned towards her to see her eyes staring right at him as frowned, "If I remember correctly, it was your little friend Weiss who attacked me first..."

"Yeah after you threatened us!"

"That may be but it was your little group who made the first move, was it not? And if I recall I never harmed your friends...to a lethal extent anyway." He smirked slightly seeing the frustration building in Blake's face, as she opened her mouth to retort he turned his head away from her, "Shouldn't you be taking your own advice and heading off to bed, don't you have classes tomorrow?" He watched as she squinted her eyes before huffing and turning away from him and drifted off to sleep. He smirked as he walked back towards the window looking up towards the shattered moon as he sighed softly, it might not have been as pure as it once was but it still had the pristine beauty he was used too.

Looking at the clock on the wall he saw, from what he was able to understand, that not even an hour had passed and he finished looking through all of their belongings. Suffice to say there was nothing that caught his interest, aside from a strange book that was hidden behind the others, Ninja's of Love, or something to that effect. But it was quiet obvious after his little bout of exploring, he was bored, he couldn't sleep because he wasn't tired for one and two he had spent who knew how many centuries asleep so the last thing he wanted was more sleep. Looking towards the door of the dorm he figured if he couldn't sleep, then he might as well explore the school he now found himself in. Moving towards the door, he cast a wary glance at the girls in their beds before slowly pulling the door open, as he slipped into the darkened hallways he softly closed the door behind him.

* * *

The halls had been exactly what he expected them to be, an endless maze of doors that all looked alike, the carpeted halls from the dorms gave way to tile floors of the main hall. It was here that ceiling high windows lined the walls giving him an, honestly, breath taking view of the courtyard of the school, it was bathed in the light of the shattered moon giving it an almost mystical look. The pure white stone structures seemed to glow in the light of the shining moon, even the trees that dotted the courtyard seemed to have an almost unearthly glow. As the large windows gave way to a large double glass door, he took the handle in hand and pulled it open letting the cool breeze rush through the halls as he stepped out into the night. His footsteps echoed off the stone pathway and into the silence of the night, it was eerie yet comforting at the same time, after dealing with so much shouting and loud noises for the entire day it was nice to have a little peace to himself.

He followed the stone pathway taking in as much of his surroundings as he was able to, off in the distance he could see a giant tower raising out of the ground, he didn't know what it was for or what it did but from it's size...it at least seemed important. The sound of flowing water caught his attention, he followed the sound to the source, which turned out to be part of a rather large statue depicting something he could only describe as a heroic victory. It appeared to be a large rock outcrop with two figures standing on it, one was an older looking male and the other a younger female, the male held a sword in his hand pointing it towards the sky in triumph. The female held a strange double side battle-ax looking off into the distance, focusing on something unseen, below the two figures were two creatures of Grimm facing the same direction as the man. While it clearly showed these two humans' victory over such terrible creatures, Rodric couldn't help but feel his anger slowly grow as he gazed at the statue.

He closed his eyes as his head began to throb painfully, as he opened them fire and smoke filled his vision, the statue of glory was replaced with a statue of arrogance. Where once the two figures stood on the outcrop it was but a single human covered in armor that was bloodied and torn, he had his sword raised to the sky with his foot on the neck of a giant beast that laid defeated before him. He forced his eyes close as the pain returned, when his eyes opened once again the two figures were back, and the fire and smoke were nowhere to be found though the smell of burning wood and ash filled his senses.

"Staying out of trouble I would hope." He looked over his shoulder as a deep frown formed across his face, behind him stood Ozpin who merely gazed past him to behold the statue. _How did he sneak up on me... _"It's a bit late to be going for a stroll, but considering all you went through I'm sure it is a nice reprieve." Rodric said nothing as he turned back towards the statue gazing at it, for a moment the form wavered to give way to the statue of human arrogance before fading back into what was before him. _It seems not everything has been forgotten, _he bared his teeth as he moved towards the statue running his hands along the cool chiseled stone. "It's a glorious statue hmm? It tells the tale of when-"

Rodric ran his nails over the stone cutting shallow groves into the once flawless stone, a low snarl rising from his throat, "Enough, what do you want Ozpin, it's clear you did not come here to regale me with tales of past glories."

Ozpin gazed at Rodric noticing that his eyes seemed to change with his outburst, the scarce light from the moon above was enough to give him a proper view of the change. Rodric's pupils went from being the typical round shape to thin slits as he glared at him, _Interesting... _"Quite right, I have come to inform you about your registration."

"My what?" Rodric's eyes narrowed as he watched Ozpin, as much as he was forced to obey him he still didn't like being near him, something about this man made him uneasy and it was only made worse from the fact that he didn't understand why.

"Your enrollment young man, as long as you stay here you will need to attend classes much like everyone else. After all, I can't have any one 'student' given special privileges." He ignored the scoff that Rodric cast his way, "However, seeing as you were a...late transfer it seems your papers have been...misplaced. You will have to remain in RWBY's dorm until all of this has been sorted out."

"And how long do you expect me to sit around while you forge these documents hmm? I don't appreciate being held in captivity like some wild animal."

"It shouldn't take longer than a week, after all if we want these documents to look genuine it will take some time. Also I would appreciate if you didn't give the girls a hard time, while I have asked them to watch over you, they still need to attend classes and do their respected assignments, so please don't make it difficult for them."

Rodric grit his teeth as a low growl rumbled in his chest, "A WEEK?! You can't seriously expect me to sit around and do absolutely nothing for an entire week while you fiddle around with your papers!"

"You could always use the training rooms, you just can't go to any classes until the week is up that's all." Rodric could feel his eye twitching at the calm answer Ozpin gave him, opening his mouth to argue he was cut off when the older man spoke again, "You should probably head off to bed now, it is pretty late now, we wouldn't want you to be exhausted now would we." Rodric couldn't choke out an answer at the condescending way Ozpin spoke to him, as if he were a mere child. Shouting in anger Rodric pushed past the man heading back towards the dorm room he had left not to long ago, Ozpin watching him go before he turned towards the statue once he was out of sight. His eyes easily found the shallow grooves left in the smooth stone, his eyes lingered at the imperfection before falling towards the stone pathway, where Rodric had stood thick vines covered in sharp thorns ripped through the hard stone. "...Hmm."

* * *

Rodric never fell asleep after his encounter with Ozpin, the rage that flooded his veins had seen to that, it just seemed that man knew how to get under his skin with so few words. By the time the sun rose, and the girls had awoke Rodric was in a foul mood, much more so than usual to say the least. It only seemed to grow worse when said girls forced him out of the dorm for a period of time to change or whatever it was they were doing. Not to mention when he was forced to knock on the door over and over until they eventually opened it to allow him entry, but the way Weiss looked at him, like he was interrupting something so important to allow him in frustrated him. Though nothing was done about it, not long after he was allowed back into the dorm the girls left for their classes, not without some parting words between him and Weiss none of which were kind. Without much to do he simply sat with his back against the wall, the light pouring in from the window above him as he watched the clock.

_3,597...3,598...3,599...3,600_, letting out a long sigh Rodric turned his head to the side, it took exactly 3,600 seconds for the large hand on the clock to move to the next number. It also showed that another damned hour had passed since the girls left him to his own devices, "I have to deal with a week of this..." Though he wasn't sure what was worse, being stuck in here for a week or attending the school he found himself trapped in, to him either option seemed like hell still...He turned back towards the clock watching the smaller hand slowly move by each black line, "It would be better than watching the time pass." He pushed himself to his feet as he turned and pulled the window open leaning on the windowsill as he looked down watching the other students meandering around, he shook his head slowly, he still found it hard to believe that all these children willingly volunteered to be hunters.

His eyes strayed from one child to the next never stopping on any one in particular, "Such wasted life..." His mind strayed back to those strange creature in the forest from the previous day, the Grimm as they were called, "You all volunteer to fight such horrendous abominations of nature..." His eyes caught sight of two children walking closely side by side, the female nudging the male with her shoulder as he smirked, "Enjoy it while it lasts, you never know when it'll be torn from your hands." He face fell at his own words as he watched them disappear around the corner and out of his sight, pushing himself away from the window he sighed heavily, glancing at the clock he saw he needed to find something to occupy his time for the next few hours. As he thought about, something Ozpin had mentioned to him last night crossed his mind, and as much as he hated to admit it, it truly was a lot better than watching the clock make its rounds. Scoffing slightly he walked through the door of the dorm and out into the hall looking around hearing a soft mumble of people conversing nearby but otherwise the hall was practically empty.

* * *

He kept his eyes forward, moving with confident strides through the halls passing by others who were dressed in the school uniform, it seemed. They all eyed him curiously as he passed them, perhaps because he wasn't dressed as they were, or perhaps it was because of the way he walked it seemed most other students didn't walk with such an air of confidence as he did so perhaps they were wary of him. Though it could have been because he had walked down the same hallway for the third time though he didn't understand how that was possible with all the turns he had taken. He kept up a calm facade but on the inside he was a raging mess, his apparent poor sense of direction frustrated him, it shouldn't be this hard to be able to find the training room in a school built for hunters.

"Rodric?" He turned at the mention of his name and the first thing he saw was a pair of brown rabbit ears, looking down slightly he saw the girl from the previous day.

"Oh, um...Velvet correct?" She gave a small nod, "Ah, pleasure." He turned back around intending to continue his search for the infamous training room.

"Rodric?" He gave a small hum but did not look towards her, "Um...are-are you looking for something?" He turned towards her before looking away again frowning slightly, she watched as he clenched and unclenched his jaw, it seemed he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. She had noticed him pass by multiple times with a look of concentration on his face, her face lit up with realization as she tried to fight back a small chuckle, "Rodric...are you lost?"

"What?!" He turned to glare at her but when he noticed the amused look in her eye he frowned and looked away, "I-I don't know where you would come up with such a-a ridiculous claim such as that. Me, lost how preposterous, honestly that's such a ludicrous-"

"I saw you pass by the same window three times, I know you're lost trust me." He opened his mouth for a rebuttal but sadly he couldn't deny that she was right. As much as it pained him to acknowledge his own shortcomings he knew when he was caught and lying to save his own dignity wasn't going to help, she gave a small lighthearted laugh when she saw the look of defeat on his face, "Well, what are you looking for maybe I can help?"

She watched as he grumbled to himself obviously frustrated at having to be helped, she couldn't help but smile he reminded her a little of her own teammate, Fox. Fox was almost the same personality wise, never liking to ask for someone's help or advice always preferring to do things himself until he absolutely needed the help. Despite that he was a good partner, always working hard and always quick to help others despite his aversion to assistance, "Well...I was looking for the damned training room, seeing as I have...plenty of extra time I figured I could occupy myself but..." He sighed heavily as he shrugged slightly looking away from her.

"Oh, well I can show you to it if you want, I was supposed to meet the rest of my team there but I, heh I kind of got distracted." He pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing and giving a firm nod, she flashed him a smile before turning on her heel and walked in the direction of the training room. He followed her saying nothing, as he felt there wasn't much to say after being made to look like a fool because of his poor sense of direction, though she did try to strike up a conversation with him asking him questions about himself. Where are you from, what school did he attend, simple questions trying to get to know him, though seeing as he didn't know how to answer most of these questions he deflected them and asked questions about her. It seemed to distract her for the most part, enough to where she would go on long-winded explanations about certain things, it proved useful as they made it to the training room rather quickly.

Upon entering the large double doors Rodric scrunched his nose as the heavy smell of sweat and a bit of blood reached his nose as he looked around the room. The room was rather large, much larger than deemed necessary in his mind, it was filled with various tools and equipment he figured was used for said training. Scattered around the room were students busy with various activities, off in the corner was a large pile of strangely shaped metal weights that a couple of boys were picking up and lifting, with some difficulty. Beyond that there was a rather large student slamming his fists into a large bag suspended off the ground, he could be heard grunting with each blow he threw, a group of girls and boys rushed past them it seemed that they were running a large track in the center of the room. He didn't exactly expect the training room to look as vast as it did, he didn't really know what to expect honestly but it definitely wasn't this, he shook his head and opened his mouth to ask Velvet about it when a sudden shout cut him off. "Hey Vel, over here!"

He looked in the direction of the shout and saw a dark-skinned boy with deep copper hair waving from across the room, Velvet waved back as she motioned for him to follow. He shrugged and followed behind her as they made their way over. The boy was wearing a tight black shirt that was missing its sleeves, he wore strange white wrappings around his hands that went up to his forearms with baggy shorts with the same white wrappings around his legs and feet. "Hey Fox, sorry for taking so long I was just-"

"Whose this?" He jerked his head motioning to Rodric causing him to frown, it didn't seem he meant it in any ill way he just didn't like being addressed in such a way.

"O-Oh this is Rodric, he's one of the new transfer students I was just helping him out since he got lost on-"

"I didn't get lost I was...merely turned around was all..."

"Of course." She gave him a very amused expression that caused him to roll his eyes, she looked around the room before turning back to Fox, "Say...where's Coco?"

Her jerked his thumb over his shoulder pointing towards the wall, "She's out on the range, she figured if we were all going to train she might as well put some effort in and practice her shooting." Fox shrugged but stopped when something caught his attention, "Hey, what happened to your hand?"

Velvet looked confused for a moment before she realized what he had meant, "Oh, that." She raised her arm up and pulled the sleeve to her uniform up showing a large white bandage wrapped around her hand and wrist, "It's what Coco sent me to the nurses office for yesterday, turns out I really did sprain it h-heh..." Fox continued to stare at Velvet a look of slight anger crossing over his face before looking away.

"Right." He glanced over to his teammate, Yatsuhashi, they shared a look before he went back to working over the punching back. "So...what's your deal?" Rodric looked over to see who he was talking to only to meet his eye causing his own to harden slightly.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, Velvet says she was helping you find your way here, so obviously your were looking to train. Did you have something in mind?" Rodric took a look around the room noticing all the different activities everyone was performing, he didn't even know what he wanted to do he just wanted to get out of the dorm room and felt that this would be the easiest way.

"Not exactly...I merely needed something to occupy my time. I have some free time it seems and I needed to keep myself...entertained." Velvet and Fox looked to each other where the former merely shrugged.

"Well if that's the case then let's go I was looking for a partner." He cast a questioning glance towards him who motioned to a taped off section of the room, "You know sparring, training...what you came here for?" Rodric nodded slightly as he followed Fox towards the box, "Alright so this is what we'll do, first one to pin the other to the ground, get them to tap out, or knock them out wins, whaddya say?" Rodric had no idea what he was talking about but gave a slow nod as Fox cracked a large grin, "Great, Vel you think you can referee for us?"

"U-Um sure."

"Alright, listen up new guy I don't plan on going easy on you just cause you made friends with my teammate okay? So don't expect me to pull any of my punches, if we do this we go all the way." Fox raised his fists and started to bounce on his feet his eyes focused on Rodric, "You ready?"

Rodric's mouth turned into a large grin as he gave a dark chuckle as he pulled his boots off and tossed them off to the side, "You think highly of yourself it seems, but do not underestimate my abilities child, for that will be your most costly mistake." He raised his fists standing opposite of Fox who stared at him with a focused look, his eyes rapidly moving over him, "But to answer your question...I'm more than ready."


	4. Fighting Off Memories

_**Hey guys...sorry about taking so long doing these I just haven't been able to really concentrate on these, and saying that I have to make the sad announcement that I will not be continuing any of my stories anymore. I can't concentrate enough to keep going and I'm sorry everyone, though I want to thank you for reading these and giving me the confidence that I needed, with all of your support I feel I could become a better writer in the future. Anyway, please enjoy my last chapter and tell me what you think. **_

* * *

**Fighting Off Memories**

Velvet's eyes darted between the two 'sparring' before her, though she could hardly call it sparring anymore, after the first few rounds ended in a tie some harsh words were exchanged and...well. She cringed slightly when Fox's fist slammed dead center into Rodric's chest, just from how loud it sounded it made her own chest hurt, but Rodric didn't even seem to feel it as he grabbed hold of Fox's arm and turned so it was across his shoulder and flipped him over and onto his back. The sound of cheering erupted around the makeshift ring as Velvet sighed softly, that was the other thing, the other students had stopped their training to watch 'the new kid go against one of the best hand to hand fighters at Beacon' at least that's what everyone else was saying. When things had started to escalate beyond sparring she didn't have the courage to jump in and stop, mostly because she didn't think they would if she did, so she had hoped that Yatsuhashi would step in and stop them but...

"Hm." She glanced off to her side and saw him sitting next to her arms crossed his eyes focused on the match before them, the only sounds he would make were sounds of agreement when something were to happen, or sounds of pain when a particular blow sounded or looked painful, which just happened to be all the time. Another sigh and she turned her attention back towards the two before her, she was suppose to be the referee but it seemed they had forgotten about that long before and just seemed to be willing to knock the other out. She pinched the bridge of her nose exhaling in exasperation.

"Boys."

* * *

Rodric brought up his arms to guard his face when Fox threw his leg out, feeling it slam into his forearms sending a small burst of numbness shooting through his arm. Though the feeling still lingered he grabbed at Fox's leg and yanked him forward startling and forcing him to stumble forward as he threw his fist out towards his chest, Fox grit his teeth and brought his arms up just as he felt Rodric's fist slam into his forearms, pain lancing through them as he was sent reeling back from the force. Fox took short breaths panting softly, his chest rising and falling as he shook his arms out the throbbing pain fading into a dull numb feeling spreading through his arms, "What's the matter?" He lifted his eyes to meet Rodric's, "Giving up so soon?" A chours of 'oh's' filled his ears as he glared in his direction but said nothing as he took a deep breath slowing his racing heart.

He wouldn't show it, but Fox was growing frustrated with this fight, the cocky way Rodric would act when he was using his semblance the whole time. His jaw ticked as he fought back a scowl, he should have known something was up the moment the fight started, the first time he landed a hit on Rodric he felt pain shoot up his entire arm. He didn't know what his semblance was exactly but hell it felt like he was punching a moving brick wall, he wasn't sure if it was obvious to anyone else seeing as he was looking more damaged than Rodric was nevertheless he refused to concede to the new kid. He brought his fists up again as he began to circle around Rodric his eyes jumping from his hands to his feet trying to get some idea of what he was going to do. He clenched his teeth when Rodric shifted his weight but relaxed slightly when he didn't make a move, _What's he waiting for? _He glanced up towards Rodric's face to see if he could see something in his eyes but what he saw infuriated him, he was smirking he had that same damn smug look on his face from earlier. Clenching his teeth he rushed forward in a blind rage throwing punches wildly trying hoping they would connect, but he simply moved out of their way, Fox knew he was playing right into Rodric's hands by getting angry but he was tired of seeing that stupid smile on his face.

Rodric's smirk only widened more as Fox rushed at him blindly, no tactic no control just pure unbridled rage, he would have laughed if it wasn't such a sad display. His punches were so sloppy and wild he didn't even need to use much caution to move away from them, sighing softly he moved back from a rather close swing before rushing close to him. Fox jerked back in surprise when he suddenly closed the distance, he tried to move back to get away from Rodric but he was already much to close. He gave a toothy smirk as he threw his fist out slamming it as hard as he could into Fox's stomach, Fox gasped in pain as the air rushed from his lungs sending him to his knees. He coughed, gasping for breath as his lungs and stomach throbbed with each painful breath he took, he tried to push himself to his feet only to feel his legs trembling underneath him causing him to collapse once again. "I think this match is over, yes?" He glared up at Rodric who had that damn look on his face, that cocky expression the way he looked down on him pissed him off, he tried to speak but found his voice was lost and his lungs were still raw and on fire. Rodric turned seeing the group that was around them starting to disperse already, "Well that was a good warm-up, but what else is there to do?"

_What..._He looked up at Rodric who was making his way out of the square, he didn't care that he used his semblance the whole match, he didn't care that he was a cocky bastard, hell he didn't care that he got his ass handed to him. But to hear him act like he was nothing but a warm-up to him was what got to him, he didn't let anyone try and look down on him and he wasn't about to sit by and let this new kid do that. He grit his teeth as he pushed himself up on shaking legs as he hissed in pain between his teeth, he took a tentative step forward making sure his legs would hold him. Once he was sure they did would he rushed him, that blind rage took over again but he knew he would have the advantage this time, "You asshole!" This time Fox had a smirk on his face, his shout seemed to catch Rodric off guard and grab his attention, as he turned towards him Fox clenched his fist and threw it out putting all his body weight into it and slammed it right into his jaw. Rodric stumbled back from the sudden assault, the sound of Fox's fist connecting with his jaw sounded much worse than it actually was, his mouth was now slightly numb but nothing damaged except his pride. He grit his teeth as he turned completely towards Fox who was shaking his hand out, before he could say a thing Fox rushed him again slamming his shoulder into his stomach intending to take him down, but Rodric dug his feet into he ground holding himself upright.

"What do you think you're doing this fight is over, I have won now concede and we won't have to drag this out longer than it has too." He ignored the strikes he could feel in his side from Fox, as he wouldn't fight back when he didn't need to.

"Like hell I will, you didn't win a damn thing you cheated the whole damn time..." He tried to push forward to gain some ground on Rodric but when his feet slid along the floor he knew he couldn't move him. "...You used your semblance the whole time, I couldn't do a damn thing to you because of it!"

He felt his anger flare at the baseless claim Fox had throw on him, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Fox's waist and lifted him off the ground forcing him to turn before he slammed his back into the ground, "You impudent child, how dare you accuse me of cheating in a match as simple as this!" He was shaking with rage as he glared down at Fox who writhed on the floor pressing his hand into his back, "Apologize."

Fox grit his teeth as he writhed on the ground, the pain flowing through his back was gut wrenching, he felt like he might puke with how bad it actually hurt. Still he refused to show it, he glared up at Rodric returning his gaze that's when he noticed two things, Rodric's eyes had turned to slits and that he actually demanded that he apologize, "Like hell I will, I know you cheated you were using your damn semblance your using it now!"

"Enough, it's clear this is going nowhere." He moved over to Fox and grabbed the scruff on his shirt lifting him slightly off the ground as he pulled his arm back, "Goodnight Fox." He threw his fist out as Fox clenched his eyes shut.

"Rodric stop!" He froze mid swing as he growled ever so slightly and turned to see who had yelled, his eyes fell on the girl standing in front of a bench who was shaking ever so slightly. "Just...stop." She pleaded with him as her brown eyes looked between him and Fox, he sighed and reluctantly released Fox, only to feel a heavy weight on his clothes as he turned he saw Fox pull himself up using his shirt and slammed his fist right into his nose. Stumbling back he gripped his nose as it hurt more than anything else had, he cursed under his breath as he glared at Fox who was now on his feet.

"And here I thought I was going to..." He noticed Fox had a large smirk on his face, he frowned growing angrier, "What are you smiling at?" Fox merely jerked his head in Rodric's direction, he frowned until he felt something warm running over his mouth. He ran his hand over his mouth before bringing it up, his eyes widened in rage, his hands were covered in blood _his _blood. He clenched his fist as he glared at Fox, "I. Will. DESTROY YOU!" Fox visibly flinched at the sudden shift in tone he had taken, Rodric's voice was deeper, darker and seethed with unbridled fury that sent chills over Fox's body. _Shit, _was all Fox could think as he was sent on the defense ducking and dodging Rodric's fists.

Velvet watched on horror as Rodric and Fox went at it, though it seemed this time neither one was holding back, Rodric seemed to be fighting with the intensity and fury of a wild animal, or dare she say...one of the Grimm. Fox was forced to go all out as well just to defend himself though it seemed all he could really do was stay on the defensive ducking and dodging when Rodric would throw his fist out, each swing seemingly getting closer to Fox as his movement's became more sluggish as time drew on. Fox jumped back his breathing ragged as he panted heavily, jerking his head back as it bumped against the wall of the building, his eyes widened slightly as Rodric closed in on him. He swallowed hard as his heart raced, he waited until Rodric was upon him and the moment he threw his fist out he threw himself down and too the side away from the oncoming fist, his throat tightened as he heard the tale-tell sounds of a shattered (or at least broken) wall.

Fox turned panting heavily as he watched Rodric turn towards him the wall behind him indented where his fist collided with it, and large cracks spreading out from the point of impact. He took a step back as he swallowed hard his eye dropping down to his hand and again he felt his throat tighten, there was blood flowing from the wounds he received from punching the wall with the force of a truck, but what really rattled Fox's nerves was the small amount of smoke? Steam? Something that was flowing from Rodric's wounds, either his adrenaline was keeping him from feeling it or he truly didn't notice his injuries, either way the fact that he was still heading towards him sent fear crawling through his body. Despite that he still tried to find some way to incapacitate Rodric without harming him to much, though with the remnants of the wall behind him he was starting to think that it wasn't going to easy...or possible at this point. Rodric took notice at the way Fox seemed to hold his ground even going so far as to return to a fighting stance, "Hm? So, you still have some fight in you it seems, wonderful this just makes it much more fun!"

Fox flinched slightly at the wide sadistic grin Rodric cast his way, he let out a sharp breath as he braced himself for Rodric, and just as he anticipated the raging student rushed towards him throwing out another wide punch. Fox took a half step to the side dodging the blow by a hair's breadth, as the punch flew past him he took a daring step forward putting himself inches from Rodric. Using all his body weight he threw his hands out his right hand flying straight up slamming open palm into Rodric's jaw, the loud sound of his teeth snapping together caused Fox to cringe slightly as he continued, he threw his left hand out slamming his palm into Rodric's stomach his fingers digging into the flesh. Everything was still for a moment, Fox let out a relieved sigh as he looked up towards Rodric only to feel the icy tendrils of fear crawling through his veins once again. "You...you think something like this will stop me!"

He felt Rodric's hand grasp his shoulder and squeezed, to say the pain that radiated through his shoulder was excruciating would have been an understatement. His entire arm felt like it was on fire, it felt like burning knifes were digging into his flesh and muscle all the while his bones were slowly being crushed by some type of vice, "You pathetic child...you can't stop someone like-" Gritting his teeth Fox twisted his hand that was on Rodric's stomach digging his fingers deeper into the flesh as he let loose a large burst of aura, Rodric felt fire, cold fire pierce his body tearing through flesh muscle and bone, before he could cry out in pain he felt his back slam against the hard surface of the wall. Fox panted heavily as he watched Rodric slide to the ground as he himself dropped to a knee, unleashing a large enough burst of aura to throw someone like Rodric took a lot out of him, not to mention it felt like he was resisting his aura which forced him to use even more to the point of expelling every bit he had in him.

But from the way it seemed that was the end of it, he fell forward onto his hands panting heavily, Fox couldn't believe that there was someone like this going to Beacon. Even though he went up against the likes of Yang before this was on a whole other level, he had began to wonder what it would look like if Rodric and Yang went against each other when a low sound caught his attention and sent a chill through his body. A low chuckle reached his ears as he slowly looked up to see Rodric staring right at him, his body twitching slightly with laughter that same demented smile on his face as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, "Well..." Small bits of dust and pieces of wall falling from his body added to the intimidation factor, "It seems you were holding back. If you fight like this from now on, you might actually prove to be a challenge." Rodric popped his neck and shoulders relieving the slight bit of pressure he felt with almost sickening cracks, "Let's continue."

Fox panted heavily as he forced himself to his feet, swaying slightly at the sudden movement, he didn't know what was keeping him up all his energy felt like it was gone with that blast of aura he had used earlier. Maybe it was pure adrenaline or the raging fear creeping through his body that kept him standing, but standing and fighting were now two vastly different actions. He was able to keep himself up with minimal effort but putting his body in action to defend himself was going to prove to be a hassle, he hardly had any aura left after his last attack, seeing as it was sort of his final gambit when things started to turn ugly. Usually his opponent wouldn't get back up with a smile after that, but then again his opponents were usually Grimm, the last time he had to use his aura as a weapon like that was almost to long ago to remember. It had to do with a couple of huge Ursa Majors and Velvet, he shook his head as he took a deep breath before letting it out slowly to keep his racing heart slow and even, now wasn't the time to get wrapped up in the past when he was facing a monster once again.

Whatever Rodric's semblance was Fox still couldn't be sure about, aside from his incredible strength, resilience, fast as hell healing and almost inhuman about of stamina he was at a loss as to what it was. Rather than be taken by surprise again he figured he would use the last dregs of his aura to finish this fight before it could go on any longer, taking a few breaths to slow his heart he focused on what he had to do, soon enough he felt that familiar tinge of power rushing across his body. He kept his eyes focused on Rodric as he clenched his fists feeling the aura wash over his body and condensed into his arms sending electricity through his muscles, revitalizing and repairing the sore and damaged muscles. Fox knew he wasn't going to be able to keep going for another ten rounds as they had been previously, so he was hoping that with this one well placed aura infused punch he would be able to knock Rodric out once and for all, that or at least injure him to an extent where he couldn't go on anymore.

* * *

They stared each other down circling like some sort of predatory animal waiting for their chance to strike and take the other down, just the stare down alone was intense but to her she knew something bad was going to happen if she didn't stop them soon. She was speechless when Fox had burst his aura against Rodric, she feared for the both of them mostly the strain it put on Fox and the damage that could have been done to Rodric, but when she saw him get up again after that she...she didn't even know what to think about it. She saw the stance that Fox took, it was usually left when he went up against a particular difficult sparring partner, but it was different this time, she caught the glimmer of his aura surrounding his arms and knew someone was going to get hurt. Either Fox, Rodric or the both of them but she knew someone was going to end up in really bad shape, she couldn't take this standing around anymore of not being able to do a thing while she watched the two of them beat the crap out of each other. She clenched her fists and the moment the two made a move towards each other she sprinted towards them, mostly on instinct she didn't realize what she was doing until she halfway towards them, "Stop it!"

* * *

Rodric vision seemed to hone in on the person before him, Fox had started rushing towards him and he intended to meet him head on. For the few moments he had known Fox he had determined that despite his brash attitude and short temper he made a very worth adversary though it seemed this competition was about to come to a- "Stop!" Velvet appeared in front of him almost as if she had materialized from thin air itself, she held her hands outward in both directions, what was she thinking! With the way he and Fox were going there was no way for them to stop and it seemed she wasn't going to move unless they stopped, which seemed like a costly mistake, and from what it seemed Fox didn't seem to notice Velvet at all. Gritting his teeth Rodric knew how this would end, a unpleasant image flashed through his mind as he pushed himself more intending to reach Velvet first, Fox took this as a challenge and followed suit each one quickly approaching the girl. Rodric threw his arm out causing Velvet to flinch as he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him as he stepped forward and turned so his body would take the brunt of the force, Velvet's eyes widened slightly at the gesture but more so at the loud sickening crack when Fox's fist met Rodric's jaw.

* * *

Rodric felt his legs tremble as his vision swam from the force of the blow, a strange throbbing ache filled his head, it was strange it was painful yet he didn't exactly feel any pain it was hard to explain but not that hard to feel. A dull ringing filled his ears as he tried to shake the feeling away though the movement only seemed to agitate his mouth even more, Velvet quickly let go of his arm and moved around him only to quickly cover her mouth with her hands as a look of horror spread over her face. He didn't know why he felt perfectly fine if not a little woozy, it seemed after she calmed down she tried speaking to him though for some odd reason he couldn't really hear anything. He must have had a strange look on his face as she because nervous again as she pointed to her face, or to be more accurate her jaw, he didn't really understand what she was doing until she started to point to her jaw then to him repeatedly.

He nodded slowly and placed his hand on his jaw though he wasn't understanding what she was trying to show him by doing this, when she frantically pointed to one side he sighed and nodded. Running his hand across his jaw he didn't feel anything to warrant any amount of fear from her, until his hand reached the left side where a sharp jolt of electricity shot through his body, "Dammit." He cringed again as he spoke as another sharp jolt shot through his head, when he looked up she was handing him a small mirror which he quickly took. His eyes widened slightly as he stared at himself in the small mirror, his jaw was set at an odd angle tilting slightly to the right with a large bulge in his cheek, under the skin from the bone being out of place no doubt. Without a word he handed Velvet back the mirror before placing a hand on the back of his head and the other on his broken jaw, he braced his body as he jerked his hand in a single swift motion the bone grinding and snapping back in place as a Velvet cringed before him. He moved and flexed his jaw slowly feeling it crack and pop until the dull pain subsided, as he did that a loud ringing filled his ears before slowly fading away until the sounds returned back to him.

"Rodric are you-"

"Are you okay?"

"W-What?" Velvet was taken aback by his question, she didn't understand how he could be asking something like that when not even a moment ago his jaw had been dislocated so severely. Not to mention the way he and Fox had been fighting why was he worried about her, "I-I don't...I mean yes I'm fine but-"

"Good good." He turned to Fox who seemed to flinch slightly, he didn't like the way Rodric was staring at him those cold hard eyes boring holes into his, he couldn't fight anymore if he decided to keep going he was done for. He jumped when he heard it, it was so sudden and so out of place that he didn't really know what to think at first, but when he saw Rodric's shoulders shaking as he laughed he was thoroughly confused. He didn't get a chance to move before Rodric was upon him in an instant causing fear to swell inside of him, even more so when Rodric placed his hands on either side of his head holding it in his grasp. But, once again Rodric only served to confuse him further when he brought him close and pressed his forhead against his own, his eyes looking into his, "You are an excellent fighter Fox..."

"U-um t-thanks...so are you..."

Rodric moved back smacking Fox in the chest causing the other to cough and groan in pain, "Don't let it go to your head child, you still have a lot to learn, for one never hold back because you can be certain your opponent will not." Fox nodded slowly as he turned back to Velvet who seemed to be a bit dazed, "And you..." She flinched slightly when his tone lowered as he addressed her, he wanted to be angry he wanted to yell at her, yet he found himself unable to as he huffed loudly, "What were you thinking? Honestly running out here like that when the two of us are fighting, you could have gotten hurt, or worse."

"W-Well same to you!" She quickly covered her mouth with her hands as he face flushed, letting out a shaky breath she slowly moved her hands from her mouth, "I-I mean you and Fox could have gotten hurt the way you two were fighting I...I didn't want that so...I tried to stop it." Her ears wilted slightly as she looked down at the ground, "I don't know what I was thinking, I know it was dangerous the way you two looked...but I wanted to stop you anyway I didn't want to see any of you hurt, so I acted without thinking and-"

"Stop." She quickly did so biting her lip as she stared at the ground, at least until she felt a hand on her shoulder which caused her to look up at Rodric his face still hard but his eyes soft and caring. "Your heart was in the right place Velvet, but your mind was not, if you are determined to be a hunter your heart and mind must be as one. One can not precede over the other otherwise it will lead you down a very dangerous path, choosing your mind will make you seem cold and uncaring while choosing your heart will make you seem rash and foolish." He stopped for a moment sighing softly as he squeezed her shoulder, "Just remember that, it takes both heart and mind to over come any challenge, it will be hard and arduous but if you can manage to do this, you will be an excellent hunter."

She was stunned, absolutely speechless, the way he spoke it was unlike anything she had heard before, but she was able to notice something underneath his words. It was subtle yet it was there, it almost sounded...pained like the words he spoke come from some sort of personal experience, it was that feeling that kept her from saying anything instead she merely nodded. He nodded and moved over to where he had left his shoes and slipped them on, "Well I believe I must be going now, thank you for having me." He nodded in their direction before walking out of the gym doors rather quickly, he kept his eyes forward not paying attention to much of anything, though once he was sure there was no others around he leaned against the wall covering his eyes with his hands. He grit his teeth as a dull ache filled his chest causing him to grip his shirt tightly, he could feel his eyes beginning to burn as he softly cursed to himself, "Dammit."

* * *

Velvet and Fox stared at the door before turning to each other, "Well...he's weird." Velvet gave a slow nod as she turned to look at Fox seeing him breathing heavily, she sighed softly and moved over to help him towards the bench that was now free, Yatsuhashi having left after things had calmed down though she was curious as to where he went, "I'm sorry..." That caught her off guard she looked at Fox only to notice his gaze was fixed on the floor and he seemed to be trembling slightly, either from exhaustion or...

"What do you-"

"For almost hurting you...I'm sorry." Fox swallowed the lump in throat that had formed ever since Rodric had left, after he had came too he saw the way Velvet looked at Rodric with such concern and worry that it didn't feel right to him it made him hurt worse than anything Rodric did. But, what hurt the most was that he almost attacked Velvet, the bad thing about that moment was that he could see everything happening but his body wouldn't listen to him when he tried to stop, that sick fear that plagued him when he thought he would hurt Velvet...coupled with the feeling of his fist slamming into Rodric's jaw and dislocating it. He felt terrible, this wasn't the first time his anger almost cost him his life...or a teammates life, he clenched his fists on the bench sighing softly, "I'm so so-"

"It's okay."

"W-What?"

When Fox looked up at her Velvet couldn't help but smile, "It's okay Fox you didn't do anything wrong, it's like Rodric said I should have thought about what I was doing, if I would have gotten hurt I wouldn't have blamed you."

"B-But-"

"No, no buts I already admitted to being at fault and nothing you say will change that." She smiled at him all the while he looked at her in disbelief, eventually he gave in and huffed in false annoyance as he looked towards her.

"You know Velvet you can be such a-"

"Hey you guys whats-WHOA...what the hell happened in here?" They both looked towards the door to see Coco standing there her sunglasses hanging on the edge of her nose as she looked around the gym seeing the partially destroyed wall. "Seriously...what the hell."

Velvet and Fox shared a look before Fox sighed softly, "Its...kind of a long story..."

Velvet sat next to Fox as she tried to help explain what had happened in the events that led up to this moment. As they told the story it was revealed to them that this is where Yatsuhashi had gone in the first place, turns out he had went to find Coco and told her everything, well almost everything that had happened and Coco had rushed over the moment she heard about it. "So his name was Rodric, let me guess long black hair, cold blue eyes and angry looking scowl?" They both nodded as Coco frowned, "Tch, I passed by him on the way here, if I had known I would have-"

"Coco it's alright, really. Neither of us is hurt...that badly anyway but were fine there's no need to do anything drastic." Coco looked down at Velvet before huffing slightly, she nodded her head, she didn't understand how Velvet could be the way she was. She was so caring and timid at least most of the times she was timid, still even if someone wronged her she never really said much of it, which explained why she never took her up on the offer to 'take care' of Cardin for her.

"Well anyway I got a message a little while ago from Ozpin, he said he wanted to see us whenever we were available, I think it might be about that mission he mentioned before." When they both looked up she couldn't help but smile, ever since Ozpin mentioned that the second year students would be eligible to take on missions team CFVY had been the most excited, though they were constantly disappointed every time another team was chosen over them. Now though it seemed they were finally chosen and none of them wanted to miss the chance to go on a real mission. "Well don't just sit there come on!"

They both jumped up from the bench Fox was the first one to take off, all that energy he had expended seemed to suddenly come back to him as he took off into the changing rooms to grab his bag. As much as she wanted to see Rodric once more to thank him for his words and for looking out for her, she had to settle on hopefully catching Blake or someone from team RWBY and getting them to pass the message on, though she couldn't hide how excited she was to possible be going on a mission. Ever since Ozpin had mentioned it she had been excited at every moment there was a mention of a mission and now she and her team were finally-she yelped softly as she stumbled forward her foot catching on something. After regaining her balance she sighed softly feeling her heart racing at that scare as she turned and scanned the floor to find what had caused to her to- "...What the..." Vines, thorn covered vines were tearing straight through the floor, cracking and splintering the floorboards, "How did these get here?" Cautiously she nudged one of them with her foot and squealed softly in surprise when it seemed to twitch at her touch causing her to back peddle away from it, "Whoa, what is that?"

"Come one Velvet what's the hold up?" She turned to see Coco waving her over as she turned once more to look at the strange vines tearing through the floor. The strange vines that seemed to react to her touch, she shook her head and slowly turned towards her team before hurrying after them, whatever those vines were they were going to have to wait until after their meeting with Ozpin.

* * *

Rodric frowned as he stared at the carpeted floor of the hallway, it seemed he didn't take into consideration the fact that these doors actually locked when not in use. He had no way to get back into the dorm room as he didn't have the key, a fact that was 'surprisingly' glossed over when the girls had went to their classes. He huffed again as he pressed his back against the wall raising his head to stare at the ceiling, the only thing he could do now was either explore the school more or simply wait until they came back, and seeing as he had only barely managed to retrace his steps to the dorms he didn't want to take any chances. He closed his eyes as a frown settled on his face, "Why did I say that..." Slowly opening his eyes again he felt that same dull ache filling his chest as he tried to ignore though it seemed harder as the feeling began to grow in intensity. "Why of all things did I have to say that..." He could feel his eyes beginning to burn again as the feeling began to overwhelm him causing him to clench his chest again as he grit his teeth, why did he have to feel this still, why did he still think of that, why couldn't he just-

"Rodric?"

He opened his eyes to see the youngest of the girls standing before him looking at him rather curiously with her bright silver eyes, he quickly lowered his hand as he looked towards her, "Ah, little one you're back."

"Yeah...um, what are you doing out here?"

"Oh...well it seems someone forgot to tell me that the doors don't open from this side, so I've been out here waiting for someone to come back. Do you think I could trouble you to let me in?"

She giggled softly as she nodded pulling her scroll from her pocket as she waved it in front of the the small panel by the door handle as it gave off a small beep and a sharp click. She pushed the door open and stepped inside tossing her class work up onto her bead, "Say what were you doing outside anyway?"

He walked in right after her taking his place below the window as he rested his back against the wall, "Well I couldn't exactly spend my time locked in this room like some sort of animal, I decided to explore this school and find a way to pass the time."

"Did you?"

He tilted his head slightly at the question, while fighting Fox was indeed entertaining he felt that it probably wasn't the best to tell her of his previously broken jaw, "Um...sort of." He looked off to the side sighing softly, while he did enjoy his time away from the room he was no once again bored, now that he was back he realized just how long a week was going to be before he was free to roam wherever he would like. He still did have some conflicting feelings about being in this place, some one like him subjecting themselves to staying in a place full of hunters, others would have run or fought their way out but...for him the only feeling he could describe when he sat and thought about it was almost a detached feeling. For what more could these hunters take from him, they had already taken everything that was most important to him, it made him question why he even fought them in the end it didn't matter. All they saw him as was merely a challenge, another trophy to claim and no matter how many he struck down hundreds more would rise to take his challenge, perhaps the coldness he felt towards them was what actually caused him to stay. There was nothing they could really do that would make him feel like he had once did, this is why he hated to stay in the room these thoughts and feelings plagued his mind making him question his own worth, if he didn't find a suitable distraction soon enough he would start to-

"Whoa, what happened to your face?!"

He was startled by the sudden shout, when he turned to look towards Ruby he felt instead he head being forced to the side, he could only glance at her from the corner of his vision. Though he could feel as she ran her fingers over his jaw gently prodding at the sore spot on his face, he winced slightly when she pressed on it as she softly apologized, "Oh that...nothing of importance really." It was then she forced him to look at her, her silver eyes trying their hardest to glare at him before she gave up and entered the bathroom, after hearing her shuffling around for a moment she returned with a small blue pouch filled with some type of liquid.

"Here this will help."

Curiously he reached out and took the pouch only to feel that it was cold to the touch, he had a faint idea of what to do with it, cautiously he placed the cold pouch to his cheek and winced again at the contact but soon relaxed when the cold numbed his sore cheek, he sighed softly content with the feeling, "Thank you little one, this feels better."

She only smiled and waved her hand at the gratitude as she climbed up onto her bed and proceeded to pull out some papers from the sound of it, he leaned his head against the wall sighing softly letting the cold feeling spread across his aching face. It did make him curious as to why she would help him with anything when the rest of her friends seemed to instantly hate him, not that he honestly cared it just make him curious, he looked up towards her bed and opened his mouth to ask. But, when the soft groan of frustration reached his ears he only smirked and decided to wait to ask her that, there would be plenty of time for that later.

* * *

Grumbling softly to himself, he pushed branched away from his face as he crouched under a fallen tree. _Why did I agree to this..._He found that he was asking himself that question a lot the last few days, following this girl to all these random locations looking for...whatever it was she was looking for. He clenched his teeth when he remembered she never did give him an exact answer, swatting the branches away in frustration he pushed himself forward intending to get to the bottom of this right now. He was tired of following her around like some sort of dog, the soft buzzing reached his ears as he gripped his cane and swatted at one of the Rapier Wasps that flew to close either knocking it away or scaring it off. He heard movement ahead of him as he huffed and hurried forward stumbling slightly over a raised root as he stumbled forward into a clearing.

And speak of the devil there she was, her back of turned to him giving him a view of nothing but her long silver hair with the undertone of light blue streaks. Her arms were held at her side showing her alabaster skin, she wore a simple t-shirt with a pair of black jeans, the only strange thing about her getup was that she refused to wear shoes. She never said why and he could have cared less about it, "Glad you could finally join me." He flinched slightly when she suddenly spoke, as he looked up towards her she was glaring at him with deep forest green eyes, though she quickly turned away staring ahead into the forest again.

"Well I could have caught up faster if someone hadn't rushed off ahead..."

"...That's not my problem." He gripped his cane tightly as he huffed in annoyance, he knew better than to let this girl get to him it wouldn't make any progress in whatever is was they were doing, and he'd rather not take any longer than necessary out here. This forest was filled with Grimm and they hadn't brought any backup because as she said 'it would garner far to much attention' though she was right he wasn't going to admit it.

"So...you still haven't told me what were looking for."

"And I won't for it is none of your concern, all you need to do is follow the orders I give you human." He flinched slightly at the coarse way she spoke to him, and the way she used human as an insult when she was pretty human herself. She didn't have any features that showed she was a faunus unless of course they were in other places, still it was so strange to hear human used as an insult.

"If you don't plan on telling me I don't even see the point of bringing me out here."

"Well it could be because I plan to kill you..." He froze his heart raced at the words she spoke and at the way she turned to look at him, her eyes peircing through him before she turned around again, "Or it could be because only you know the area so well, feel free to guess which one it is Roman..." He sighed heavily mostly in relief and mostly in annoyance with her, she always did that threatening to kill him and she always sounded so serious about it that it always put him on edge.

"Tch...kids."

She ignored him as she closed her eyes and felt the breeze blowing against her, it had to be here somewhere, she had dreamt of this exact spot the night before. Her dreams were always more than that and she knew it, she had leaned to trust her dreams and they would lead her to exactly what she was looking for, though she wasn't exactly sure what it was she was looking for, she only knew that she absolutely had to be here. The breeze began to pick up and grow stronger, she braced herself for it as it began to swirl around her caressing her body and flowing through her hair, it gently whispered in her ear as her eyes flew open. _It...It can't be. _The wind changed directions and began to blow deeper into the forest, she didn't hesitate, she ran after it following the breeze as it led her deeper and deeper into the forest. Jumping over fallen logs and broken trees she soon forgot about the world around her and focused on where the breeze was leading her.

As it died she slid to a halt, it didn't look much different there from where she was earlier, but the wind had led her here so there had to be something of importance here. She slowly walked between the tall trees taking deep breaths all the while she scanned the area, as she breathed in she began to cough as the smell of smoke and ash filled her nose and collected at the back of her throat. Despite that she continued to sniff the air letting the smell lead her to where it was coming from, and she soon found it, a small clearing not much bigger than where she was before though this one was crowded with trees. As she moved about the area that's when she noticed it, a large black scorch mark marring the grass for a long distance before ending suddenly, though it seemed it split off in two different directions, almost as if it had been stopped by something. Her eyes darted to the trees, the scorch marks were there as well leaving black marks on the large trees, as she continued to look around it was then she noticed other signs. Bullet holes, slashes in the ground, trees, and even in the stone around them, "What happened here..." It was clear from the burn marks everywhere that it was one of her people but that didn't explain everything else.

"Oh boy looks like some of those hunters had a rough time here." She turned towards Roman as he ran his fingers along one of the grooves cut into the rocks. When he said that she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to distinguish the smells, aside from the burning wood and ash there were hints of other smells, roses and nightshade were prominent but that wasn't the only thing. There was a very feminine scent lingering in the area followed by a very faint masculine one, though it was only faint because it was covered up strongly by the ash and smoke, meaning that was the one who had caused most of the destruction. As she followed the smells she noticed they all moved in a single direction, she opened her eyes and looked towards the north.

"Roman...what's north of here?"

He looked at her curiously before taking out his scroll and pulling up the map of the area, "Well...it looks like Beacon is north of here, why?"

"And, what is Beacon exactly?"

"It's a school for hunters in training, why are you asking about this?"

She turned towards him her eyes practically shining a large grin plastered on her face, "I think I found what I was looking for."

* * *

_**HAHAHA, if you read the beginning and actually believed I would stop writing then wow you all don't know me that well. But to quell any suspicions I will continue writing but you have to forgive me for taking so long. I've been getting way too distracted as of late to write, not to mention my sleep schedule has been thrown off so badly that I can't even work at night anymore. Anyway like I said I've only been getting distracted, First it was Dark Souls II now it's Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, speaking of which if anyone plays monster hunter you should add me so we can play together, I can't tell you how hard it is to find decent players to play with. I've started over many times and I'm only at a HR 4 right now so when I get online I either get HR 2 or HR 178 so yeah... Anyway now that I properly scared the hell out of most of you, please R&R and don't worry I'm not going anywhere.**_


	5. My Home

**_Well um...let's see um...huh well after posting wake up call I got a message stating that I should warn people for trigger warnings, and this is probably the best time to do that. Uhm TRIGGER WARNING; there is a brief mention of...of rape in this chapter if your not comfortable reading that then I would suggest not reading. _**

* * *

**My Home...**

The next few days past without incident, at least for the most part, though it wasn't his fault. It seemed Yang had gotten detention for starting a fight over her hair or something to that affect he wasn't exactly sure, though he hadn't seen the blonde as much. Despite that he still found himself alone for the last few days, the classes taking up the girls time with whatever it was they did, he managed to meet with Velvet and her friends again. Fox seemed eager to go against him again when he showed up to the gym, though aside from the three he met the other day there was a new member among them. Velvet introduced her as Coco, strange name, and while he took the change to extend his hand in greeting she merely huffed and walked off, and though it angered him he remained calm and questioned Velvet to her actions. Nervously she revealed to him that Coco might have found out about his and Fox's match and she didn't seem to pleased about how it went, considering she gave him the proverbial cold shoulder he doubted she was going to enjoy his presence anytime soon.

Fox on the other hand was like an unstable being made purely out of hyperactivity, the moment Fox saw him he wouldn't hold still, and he wouldn't stop hounding him for another rematch. When he finally managed to get a moment away from Fox he again questioned her about her friends strange change in personality, she informed him that after he left the day they met they all went to meet with Ozpin, it was then they were informed they were going to be going on their first mission. He grimaced slightly when she mentioned the mission however he tried not to show it seeing as she seemed so excited for it, he however wasn't as thrilled as her, he didn't understand how someone as timid as Velvet could be excited for such a dangerous thing. Though he kept such thoughts to himself and faked a smile congratulating them and wishing them luck, however he felt that maybe it wasn't fake enough when Velvet gave him a concerned look, somewhat luckily Fox came and dragged him away to start their match.

The match was a lot more restrictive for the both of them, mostly because Velvet would chide the both of them whenever they started to lose control of themselves. He couldn't help but compare Velvet to a scolding mother, Fox found it hilarious Velvet on the other hand grew red and nervous as she began to stutter, he smiled at that and found it rather cute. However her friend Coco didn't find it to be as cute, the moment those words had left his mouth he could feel her eyes boring into his back, if she wasn't wearing those sunglasses he could probably make out that scowl she no doubt had on her face. He merely shrugged it off and ignored her, although when it came to sparring with Fox and feeling the girls eyes tearing through his very existence, it was enough t make his skin crawl with unease. Though she seemed to have left before anyone else, and when it came time for them to go their separate ways he told them all goodbye and another round of good luck to them all, however it was Velvet who was full of surprises that day. Before they left she threw her arms around his waist and pulled him into a rather tight embrace, he was stunned by the action but when she thanked him for those words that day he didn't know what to do. He settled for rubbing her head, he had seen other human perform this action although it was for children, it seemed to still have the desired effect as she smiled up at him before pulling away.

That was three days ago, today was Friday if that jumbled mess on the wall that tried to pass for a calender held any truth in it. He had managed to occupy himself in their absence with an extreme amount of patience, he continued to visit the gym to at least keep himself busy though it seemed a lot more empty with those people gone. When he came back to the dorm sometime later he found it open, when he entered he saw the youngest of the girls laying on her bed, her legs hanging off the edge as she grumbled to herself over something or other. Though when the door clicked shut she instantly shot up tossing the book in her hands onto her bed to be forgotten about, as always she quickly went to work pestering him about what he had been up to that day. At first he was frustrated with how eagerly she wanted to hear about the things he had been up to even though it wasn't much, nevertheless she continued to show interest even when he spoke so little, when he would finish with his explanation she would then start up her own telling him everything. From what classes she had that day, to how much work they gave them, to whatever idiotic thing her friend Nora had done in class to get them both in trouble.

At first he cared little for what she had to say and found her to be more of an annoyance, but she never seemed to notice the way he would glare at her when she would not stop talking. However her constant stream of ramblings did grow on him quickly, mostly when he would find himself alone in the mornings, the silence was much to oppressing for him and was silently thankful when she would begin rambling. He was so tired of the silence...

Still, that didn't explain how he found himself in this situation. He had come back from the gym as he normally did, the moment Ruby heard him enter the room she began to talk, and talk, and talk about her day though it seemed to be mostly complaints. Though that was somewhat normal for her to complain about things that happened, he noticed a running theme in her complains, that being, "I'm _so _bored."

"Then do something little one..."

"There's nothing to do though..." From his spot on the windowsill he looked over his shoulder when he heard a loud thump, it seemed she had flopped back onto the floor staring up towards the ceiling. He shook his head before turning back towards the forest in the distance, he could see the tall trees swaying slightly with the strong breeze that had been around recently. It was nice to say the least even in the thick silence he could hear the chatter of other students from somewhere in the distance though the heavy oppression of the silence in the room was starting to grow. He couldn't believe he was already so used to hearing her talk that the silence actually began to grate on his nerves when it persisted much longer than it should have.

He shuddered slightly before finally ending the silence, "Then...play a game or something, entertain yourself child." He felt a rush of wind from behind and in an instant the young girl was upon him, he could feel her bright eyes looking up at him as he tried to ignore them, it was then she uttered the four words he would learn to fear.

"Oh, play with me!"

* * *

His brow creased in frustration as he stared at the paper before him, he should have never agreed to this he knew something was off when she had suggested playing such a...ridiculous sounding game. Nevertheless he had agreed not seeing any harm in playing this childish game with her, and yet here he sat stumped as to how someone as young as her could have bested him several times in a row at such a simple game. Of course, it was obvious to him, there was something more to this game than was being let on, how else would she be able to beat him so many times. He raised his pencil hesitating slightly as his eyes moved over the paper between them, this time he was sure he had it, lowering his pencil he drew a small x in the lower left box. Sitting back up he smirked as he watched Ruby almost instantly lean forward and draw a small circle in the box above his and then draw a line straight through the center of the grid connecting all her circles, "Looks like I win again...you're not very good at this."

His eye twitched slightly as he looked at the grid before him, "Curses..." there was something he was obviously missing but he couldn't quiet figure it out, the game was so simple yet victory eluded him. "This is impossible, you must tell me how you continue to pull victory from my grasp."

Ruby's lip twitched slightly, "Pull victory from your grasp? Who talks like that anymore?" She chuckled softly but quickly silenced herself when she saw the hard look Rodric was giving her, "Um...a-anyway I um...well I mean-"

"You just suck simple as that."

He turned to glare at the blonde who was laying on the bottom bunk watching as they had played the game, the girl in black had pushed herself into the corner a book in hand. "I beg your pardon?" The blonde had been giving him all kinds of problem ever since she had come into the room, when she noticed the game they were playing she who one and he begrudgingly answered that Ruby had. The teasing and heckling did not cease for a single moment, every time he lost she always had some sort of...insightful comment to make at his expense, and he was very tired of it.

"I'm just saying you're not very got at this game is all, no need to get so uptight about it."

"Oh please, I doubt some one of your mental abilities would be able to win at a game of wits such as this, I at least have an excuse." Yang raised her brow at that a smirk on her face as she gazed incredulously at him, "Obviously this childish game is more than I had expected, I have never seen a game such as this so of course I would not win easily."

"..."

"..."

"Really? That's the excuse you're going to use, please just admit that you suck and deal with it."

"Oh if you could do better Yang I would love to see it."

"Sure but only if we make a bet." There was a glimmer in her eye as she said those words, once again he felt a strange sense of dread and unease settle over him, but having his intellect and pride mocked by one such as her he was not going to back down from her challenge.

"Fine, when I win I want you to cut off a lock of your oh so precious hair."

"Fair enough, when I win hm..." She placed a finger on her chin as her brow furrowed in concentration no doubt trying to think of a punishment for him, again that sense of unease returned when a large smirk came across her face, "When I win you will have to do one thing I say it's as simple as that, if you have the nads you won't be scared, heh so what do you say?"

Ruby looked between her sister and Rodric, this was bad, the last time Yang made a bet like that was back in Signal and that poor kid was humiliated for the rest of his time there. She was honestly worried, Rodric didn't seem like the person to back down from a challenge like this, if his multiple defeats at tic-tac-toe weren't evidence enough at that. But, he didn't know what he was getting into, Yang always twisted her words around to give her a bigger advantage but Rodric didn't know that, "U-Um Rodric I don't think you should-"

"Deal." Ruby's mouth fell open in pure shock, without even a second though Rodric had seemed to accept his fate, leaving it in the hands of Yang to do whatever she pleased with it, _Oh no..._Ruby bit her lip, she loved Yang very dearly, but she knew just how cruel she could be when it came to something like this. Which meant she was going to have to try harder than she ever has to beat her sister. Crumbling up the paper her and Rodric had used she pulled out a fresh sheet and quickly drew out the nine square grid and waited for her sister.

Rodric stood and smirked at Yang as she took her time getting out of bed, there was no way he was losing this bet, he might have lost to Ruby but it was clear underneath her child like exterior she had the mind of a masterful tactician to be able to defeat him so soundly. He watched as Yang stood and stretched twisting this way and that, she was obviously delaying her inevitable defeat, he smirked as he moved and motioned for her to take his place. She smirked at him and nodded moving towards the center of the room as he made his way towards the window, at least he would take joy in seeing someone else fail, not to mention the absolute pain she would be in having to cut the hair she held so dear. A cold smile came over his face at the thought of the tears she would shed for the single lock, to think she was foolish enough to- "I win."

He froze mid-step, _D-Did she just...say that. _He quickly turned around and saw Yang holding the piece of paper between her fingers waving it at him, a large smile on her face, "T-That's...not possible." He stalked back over towards them noticing the look on the young girls face as she looked up at him, it was a mix of shame and failure, it was merely a game why would she take it so hard at a mere loss? Though that wasn't his main concern as he snatched the paper from Yang's grasp and looked it over, it was hard to differentiate between both of their messy marks but...as much as he hated to admit it she had in fact won. He couldn't hide the look of displeasure that came over his face or the fact that his eye twitched ever so slightly at the annoyance, "Huh...well..."

"S-Sorry Rodric I tried b-but you don't have to-"

"Oh yes he does, a deal is a deal."

He gave a heavy sigh, as much as he started to regret the deal he had made he would honor it, after all he did give his word and he would not back down from something as simple as a little bet. Looking between Ruby with sorrow and regret in her eyes and Yang who had nothing but pure joy in her eyes, he frowned as he shook his head, "Fine...fine what is my punishment?" Once again Yang's grin only grew wider as she slowly stood and placed a hand on his shoulder shaking her head from side to side slowly.

"Oh, that's not how this works..." Rodric quirked his brow as those lavender eyes bored into his own, that ever present grin slowly beginning to anger him, "You see, I said you had to do one thing and one thing only right?" Rodric gave a slow nod not exactly sure where she was going with this, "I never said I would make you do it now." Those few words sent a chill over his body as his eyes widened in surprise, his eyes hardening as anger slowly took over.

"No, you can't do that I never agreed-"

"But you did, Kitty cat what did I say my terms were?"

Blake huffed from the corner she resided in and answered without even having to look up from her book, "That when you win he would have to do one thing you said..."

Rodric frowned at the flat way she answered but she was right, "But-"

"And did I ever say I would make him do it now?"

"...Huh, no."

"Exactly." Yang removed her arm from his shoulder and instead crossed them across her chest as she stared at him with that ever present grin, he grit his teeth but he knew there was no room for argument. This was his fate for agreeing to something in a fit of anger, the terms were open ended and had he been in the right state of mind he might have caught the small detail. His fists clenched and unclenched as anger coursed through him yet there was no release for it as he had no one but himself to be angry with for the position he was now in. He ran his hands through his hair gripping it tightly as he tugged at it, reprimanding himself for being so foolish before giving a heavy sigh.

"Fine...fine I relent, you win and I...agree to the stakes."

"Yeah you will."

Once again he frowned at that, she seemed so happy and eager to be the one to deal out his suffering at an undetermined time and place, she was a cruel person, he saw that now. Though perhaps he noticed it to late when the signs were always in front of him, after all she spent days at a time in detention for getting into fights over the smallest thing. Once again his jaw ticked at his stupidity for overlooking such a major detail, he started to wonder if this was divine punishment for being an absolute moron. "Well all this winning has made me hungry, I think they should be serving dinner by now, come on." Rodric frowned as Yang left the dorm with a skip in her step, Ruby followed right behind her casting an apologetic look his way, Weiss merely moved past him without a word and Blake silently left her eyes still looked onto the words of her book. He huffed slightly and followed them as his stomach began to growl slightly, it seemed once again that his time here was going to be a difficult one.

* * *

Sitting down at one of the many tables that littered the dining hall he lifted the turkey leg to his lips ripping off a large piece as he slowly chewed it, the flavor rivaled that of the chefs from his home. The first time he had come to the dining hall he was surprised at how large it was but he was more so surprised at the amount of food they had, though most of it was very unfamiliar to him. He had chosen things that he could recognize at a glance, legs of turkey and lamb as well as large slices of cooked steaks, the others had looked at his decision with curious eyes though didn't say much about it. They were all delicious he wouldn't deny that, it was then he had decided he would stay merely for the food...and not the fact that it was either this or a prison of some sort. Swallowing the food in his mouth he gave a great sigh, the troubles still lingering in his mind though they weren't as troubling now that he was being sated with food. "Hey Rodric, how are you!" He licked his lips as he cut his steak apart because it seemed tearing at it with his teeth was frowned upon, as he took a piece in his mouth he looked up when he heard the sound of a plate being settled on the table. Sitting across from him was a girl with short orange hair and bright turquoise eyes and a large smile on her face, she wore a mix of pink and white clothing.

He swallowed the piece in his mouth before sighing softly, "Suffering a fate worse than death it seems..." He took another piece into his mouth as the girl gave a curious hum. Nora Valkyrie, the unholy child of energy and madness, at least that's what she described herself as though he wasn't exactly going to deny that claim. She was an unstable ball of chaos and limitless energy wrapped up in a nice package that was Nora, she was mad, simple as that really. Though she was a curious girl, always energetic and always smiling no matter what, maybe curious wasn't the best word strange seems to fit her better. She reminded him of the child that resided in their shared dorm, though he seemed thankful she wasn't...nearly as mad as the girl before him. He didn't know if he could stand an overly excited Ruby, even though she seemed to get to that point most times she never really reached that level of...Nora, which was just as well because if she could he would probably be in that prison by now for throttling her.

Another series of plates settled around him as the...ever smiling blonde sat next to him giggling to herself, "What's he complaining about?"

"Mm, hmm, something about suffering worse than death." Nora managed to speak those words in between stuffing food into her mouth at a rather fast pace, how did this girl not choke he wondered.

"Well...he kinda is he did make a bet with Yang after all..." He saw Ruby sit on his other side nervously fiddling with her fingers, she had a bowl of strawberries on the side of her plate...plates, one was filled with actual food while the other two consisted of nothing but sweets, he didn't understand her obsession with those sweets it was almost as unnatural as it was unhealthy. He turned towards the choking sound in front of him as Nora pounded on her chest before taking large gulps from the glass by her plate, she took a few gasping breaths before looking up at him.

"Dude! You made a bet with Yang? You should know better than that!" Rodric sighed heavily as he shook his head and went back to his food, if she had known Yang could be as evil as she was earlier maybe that would have been something useful to divulge on their first encounter. Then again when he first met Nora he was wary of her, the way she would rapidly ask him questions without even pausing to let him answer, it took a lot of strength and will power to not yell at her to shut up. It was strange to say the least, then again maybe she did tell him that bit of information and he ignored her because she wouldn't cease her blathering. Which would again make it his fault...his eye twitched slightly at that revelation as he continued to eat his food.

"Eh, who should have known better about what?" The boy with the blonde hair sat down next to Nora, Rodric had to restrain himself from glaring at the boy. It was mostly his attire that brought out his anger, not his hoodie or jeans, no none of that, but the way his armor fit him it was very reminiscent of the armor that those humans wore. The very first time he met Jaune he almost attacked him on the spot most from being blinded by pure rage at the way the young knight dressed, he only barely managed to control himself when he saw Ruby speaking with him, not to mention the way Nora had glared at him. It was the one time he managed to see an emotion other than happiness cross her face, and instantly he knew it was a bad thing, still he was wary around the boy his eyes following his every movement, his body going rigid when his hands dropped to the sword at his side. Even when he spoke to the boy it was only in as few words as possible, he wasn't eager to divulge any information to the knight, he didn't need to know anything about him. Though he wasn't sure what caused him to grow so angry aside from the way he dressed, the boy was, in all honesty a bumbling fool.

"Just Rodric, he lost a bet to Yang."

"Dude! You should have-"

"Yes, yes I heard already, I should have known better. Well I didn't and it's too late to do anything about it so I would rather move past this subject than dwell on it any longer, please." He could hear Yang chuckling softly to herself, it was obvious that her main goal with this bet was to annoy him as much as possible with it and for the most part she was succeeding in that aspect. Ruby as well was giggling to herself, though it was for a completely different reason, it was after another bout of arguing with the girl in white did Ruby confess that she liked the way he talked. Something about that it was strange, and compared it to that of an old man, he wasn't quite sure what to make or say about that so he didn't. It only seemed to be on rare occasions when the way he spoke would draw giggles from her and it only seemed to happen when his emotions ran high, such as when he argued with Weiss or now when he was still seething with rage at having fallen for Yang's trap.

"Hello everyone." He glanced up to see the red head of the trio, Pyrrha, who was accompanied by the ever silent Ren. They took seats on the sides of their respected partners; Ren with Nora and Pyrrha with Jaune, once everyone was seated the table seemed to become more animated with conversation. Though Blake and Ren said nothing for the most part, that seemed to be their usual attitude though, Ren merely listening and Blake with her nose buried in a book as per usual. Rodric said nothing much either only continued to eat his food but kept his ears open listening to their conversations, his eyes out of habit straying towards Jaune still cautious of his movements. It was here where he had first met the friends of his...wardens as it were, Team JNPR, consisting of a bumbling knight, an unstable mass of energy, a prim and proper warrior much different that Weiss and a quiet and reserved boy. It was also here that he began to learn just a bit more about Beacon, apparently they as well as everyone else at that school were set up in teams of four to work together for four years as they trained to fight off the ever present darkness of the world known as Grimm. Team RWBY, the ones tasked with watching over him, seemed to enjoy the company of the others so while he didn't say much he tried to enjoy the chatter amongst them.

He would be a liar if he said that eating and listening to the conversations between them did remind him of home, just the thought alone brought a small smile to his face. It was the same ghost of a smile he would on occasion see cross Blake's face when Yang would make a joke so horrendously stupid that it was a bit funny, though it seemed this smile didn't go unnoticed, "Rodric?" He turned his head slightly and quickly hid his smile when he saw Ruby staring up at him, "What is it? What were you smiling at?"

He frowned to hide any smile that might still be residing on his face, "Nothing of importance..." Once again despite him lying she giggled at him, he sighed and rolled his eyes as he returned to his food, at least she had quickly dropped the subject.

* * *

"Please, please, please, please, please!"

"...No." Ruby whined in annoyance and disappointment as she threw herself back into the chair almost toppling it over with the action, he should have known she dropped the subject much to fast during dinner. The moment they returned to the dorm she practically pounced on him, actually she kind of did she had leaped at him and grabbed a hold of his arm and practically ripped it from his body as she shook it furiously begging for him to tell her what he had been smiling about. He sat in his normal spot beneath the window his back pressed against the cool wall as a small chilling breeze swept through the room, he had opened the window before sitting below it, though he couldn't quiet relax with Ruby perpetually whining. Yang was once again in Blake's bed smirking at him, possible at the frustration etched on his face she would occasionally she would chime in and nag at him as well. Weiss was sitting at a desk at the end of her bed working on something for school no doubt, every time Ruby would start up he would notice her pencil abruptly stop, seems it was frustrating the girl more than him he would have kept it up if it had annoyed him at all. Blake as any other time had her nose buried in a book, either oblivious to what was going on around her or simply uncaring...he wasn't sure but he sure wish he could block out noise as she did.

"Please I just want to know, I saw you smiling at dinner and I was curious. C'mon please, please please please please pl-"

"If I tell you will you cease you incessant nagging!" Once again she giggled as his eye twitched with frustration, _This girl..._despite that she nodded enthusiastically. He gave a heavy sigh as he leaned back against the wall a quiet finally settling over the room, it wasn't oppressing as it usually was but it was welcome after Ruby's non-stop nagging. "I...I was just...thinking about home that's all." Despite it being the truth he couldn't stop the heat he felt rinsing up to his face, for some reason saying it like that felt embarrassing and he was sure that it was evident on his face.

Ruby's eye's had lit up with pure excitement as he frowned slightly at that, once again she was bouncing in the chair directly across from him, "Ooooh, what was your home like I want to know."

Once again he frowned as he crossed his arms across his chest taking an adamant stand now, "No, I told you why I was smiling but I never agreed to tell you that."

"Aw what!" Ruby huffed as she leaned back in the chair her arms across her chest and her cheeks puffed up in frustration, he would have found it cute if she hadn't been an annoying little brat for the better part of an hour.

"Dude just tell her." His frowned deepened as he glared in Yang's direction who was still smiling, did this girl ever stop smiling, though a faint smile crossed his own face.

"Is that your one demand?"

She smirked as she looked at him, "Nice try..." The smile quickly vanished from his face as she chuckled softly, "You should just tell her though cause she is not going to stop, and for everyone's sanity including your own, it would be better if you just tell her. Though I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious too."

Rodric rolled his eyes as he leaned back against the wall closing his eyes as he sighed heavily, he wasn't exactly sure what to tell them there were a lot of things he rather not reveal to them, not to mention he wasn't sure why it mattered so much. "Yang's right Rodric." He opened his eyes at the sudden voice as he turned in it's direction, only to see the amber eyes of Blake looking towards him, "None of us know anything about you aside from your name, I mean we've been in the same room for about a week and no one knows a thing about you. I think it's only fair if you tell us about your home if nothing else." Rodric glared slightly at her but turned away just as fast, it was true after all he had been here nearly a week since he was...found. While they weren't on the best of terms he had learned to tolerate them all to a certain extent, he wouldn't call it friendship but there was something akin to an understanding between them all. Well aside from Weiss that was, but that didn't matter he knew plenty about them all from the way they acted, spoke and the like, but he always kept himself locked away from them, perhaps it was only fair...

Scratching his head he huffed in annoyance, "Fine..." He heard the bouncing from the chair across from him as he shot a glare at her to which she quickly ceased her bouncing. He took a deep breath before slowly letting it out as he leaned his head against the wall closing his eyes, "My home was not from this area, it was full of flat rolling green hills and large mountains that dotted the horizon. My home was at the base of one of these mountains, it had a fairly large village, mostly filled with homes though there were some general shops here and there. Mostly a trading village if I recall, travelers would come and stop by on occasion either to rest or to trade their pelts for gold or perhaps a good meal and a bed for the night. It wasn't anything special honestly just a good home for...for good people." The girls all shared a look as they remembered what Ozpin had said about the possibility of losing his family to rogue hunters, they all swallowed a lump in their throats as he continued. "The village also traded livestock as well as crops I believe, the cows and pigs they had seemed to be the main source of any income for them. If I remember correctly there was also a large castle of stone in the area, no where near the village mind you but it was there looming in the distance, it still ruled over them."

"Despite that the people of the village always seemed...cheerful, I could never understand what made them so happy. But most days I could wake up to smell of freshly baked bread being prepared in either the bakery or in some of the homes. Hm, if I was lucky I would be able to wake up on a day when the air was simply filled with the smell of baking bread, all the different herbs mixed in wafting in the air and filling it with such a delicious aroma. Those were days when everyone in the village made bread at the same time, oh it was such a heavenly scent..." Despite the girls having just left dinner they way he would describe the aroma of fresh handmade bread, made their mouths water and more than one stomach rumbled. It might have just been their imagination but they could have swore they had started to smell the bread that Rodric described the multitude of herbs being mixed and blended together perfectly and baked to perfection. "If that wasn't what I would awaken to then it would be the smell of fresh rain settling over the land, something as simple as rain water smelled so wonderful when it was mixed with the scent of freshly tilled earth." He smiled to himself as he took a deep breath somewhat smelling the newly fallen rain from memories past, though the smile quickly faded when it was replaced with the strong sickly smell of smoke and ash.

"I-I think that's enough of that..."

"What why I want to know more your home."

"No I've told you enough to satisfy your curiosity."

"But there's still so much I want to know, like about that castle, did you ever set foot in it, what was it like-"

"Ruby...please stop-"

"-and your village what was it called? Did you ever have any sort of festivals I know most places do-"

"-Ruby...I'm begging you-"

"Sis maybe you should-"

"-oh oh do you think you could find it if we gave you a map? I mean I would love to see it it sounds amazing-"

"Ruby-"

"and did you ever...you know have a crush on someone or did you leave a broken-"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP!" Everyone jumped at the sudden exclamation, Rodric was breathing heavily his teeth clenched tightly as he lowed his head, shaking it back and forth slowly, "You...and your incessant nagging you just don't know when to stop-"

"R-Rodric I-I'm sorry I-"

"-you just keep pushing and pushing even when I BEGGED you to stop! You don't know when to stop, you just don't..."

"R-Rodric..." Ruby sat trembling in her seat fear and regret running through her body as tears burned at her eyes. She should have listened why did she have to be so stupid, he asked her to stop and yet she kept pushing and pushing until he got angry. It was all her fault and she knew it.

"You want to know so badly why I asked you to stop then I will. Maybe then your damned curiosity will be sated and you can leave me be." He glared up at Ruby causing her to jump, his eyes were filled with so much pain merely looking into them almost brought Ruby to tears, "Yes child we had a festival, it was their harvest festival, and it was the night I watched my home burn to the ground. The hunters came from the castle but they were not the hunters that you know of now, no they carried the shameful title of Knights." He sneered the words as Ruby's eyes widened in shock, Knights...the knights she grew up hearing stories about, they...they did that..._N-No i-it can't be._ "These knights marched forth from the castle under orders of the king to capture and bring me to him. But, did they simply do that, did they simply come and take me to their king...of course not." Ruby covered her mouth as she watched the tears flowing down his face, but that look of anger never left his face, she wasn't even sure if he knew he was crying.

"They found me first, they found me and cornered me keeping their weapons trained on me, I was already weak from a previous battle and could not retaliate against them. So I stood by helpless, me...helpless, while I watched them destroy my home, kill my friends and loved ones. All the while they laughed, oh how they laughed and jeered as I cried out in agony as I watched them spill the blood of countless innocents before me, all because they despised me. They killed hundreds of men women and children because of their hatred for me, how cowardly for humans bearing the name of Knights to act in such a way. And to answer your other question, yes Ruby, yes I had someone I cared deeply about, but she suffered a fate far worse than any of the others." He clenched his chest as pain radiated through his body, his breathing was ragged and he could feel a dampness on his face yet he did not care, if she truly wanted to know then she will know.

He stood and slowly made his way over towards Ruby, "They saw the way I yelled and cried out when they captured her, perhaps it was those actions that were her undoing. I blame myself of course for not being able to do anything, I also blame myself for getting attached to her, maybe if I had kept my distance she would have had a quick death like all the others."

"Rodric that's enough."

"No Yang if she wants to know so damned badly then she will hear what I have to say. You see child, once I made the folly of showing just how much she meant to me, they made her suffer...they made me suffer. I was forced to watch as they forced themselves on her one by one all while she begged for them to simply kill her. Do you know what that's like little one? To hear the person you love crying out in pain begging for her life to be ended, do you?"

"Rodric!"

"DO YOU?!"

"NO!" Ruby buried her her face in her hands as she cried out in anguish her entire body shuddering as she cried, Rodric felt no pity the only thing he felt now was a cold emptiness in his chest. He leaned forward speaking to her in a low voice that no longer held any semblance of emotion.

"I do, most nights I don't sleep because I still see her reaching out for me, begging for me to help. If not that then I hear her screaming for death, does it hurt little one? Does it hurt hearing the suffering I face..." She gave a silent nod her face still buried in her hands as she shuddered, "...maybe then you will learn to listen when someone begs you to stop, yes?" He opened his mouth to continue when he felt himself pulled back and slammed into the now closed window cracks spidering out along the surface of the glass.

"What the hell is your problem Rodric, she's just a kid!"

"It matters not that she is a mere child she wishes to know what my home was like even when I begged of her to stop. Clearly she is grown up to press forward in an issue I would rather not talk about, she wanted to know so I simply told her..." He pushed Yang's hand off of him and moved forward only for her to shove him back against the glass her arm across his chest.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"With me?! Why don't you ask yourself what's wrong with your disgusting race of humans, clearly you see nothing wrong with taking the lives of hundreds of innocents for the life of one. Now unhand me human before you suffer the same fate as those knights did..." He tried to push her off only for her to press her arm harder into his chest, a feral growl ripped through his throat as he glared at her, his eyes turning to slits as a faint trail of smoke left his mouth, "I said unhand me, because I will not hesitate to kill you!" She pulled back her fist ready to attack him, to which he merely smiled revealing a row of sharp teeth, "So be it then!" She brought her first down as heat began to emanate from the back of his throat, at this distance no amount of magic would be able to save her.

"Yang stop!" Yang's fist halted in it's movement as she glared at Rodric a wicked smirk on his lips as looked down at her, "J-Just stop...please." Yang frowned as she looked over her shoulder.

"But...Ruby he-" Rodric grinned as she let her guard down, when she turned to look at her sister he raised his legs off the ground and quickly kicked them forward, they connected with Yang's stomach tossing her across the room and into her sister as they both crashed into the chair. He picked himself up as he stalked towards them, the other two members of the team were ready with weapons drawn as he stood over the two of them.

"Next time it would be best of you simply listen to me." He walked past them as he pulled the door open and stepped out only to be stopped by a voice.

"W-Where the hell do you think you're going..." He turned to see Yang slowly standing up an arm draped across her stomach as she stood on shaking legs.

"Out. It would be in your best interest if you stayed put." He slammed the door shut hard enough for cracks to form around the door handle. With that the room was left in silence as Ruby slowly picked herself up brushing the splinters of the chair off her back.

"What the hell I'm going to kill that little-"

"Yang just stop please." They all turned towards Ruby who was already getting ready for bed, it was strange to see her like this, she was so quiet and her voice was low. She didn't want to hear anymore yelling, what Rodric had told her was still playing out in her mind, and the only thing she felt was ashamed and sick. She should have just stopped, why was she so stupid...

"But...Rubes he-"

"Just go to bed...all of you we'll...we'll deal with it tomorrow." She said nothing more as she climbed into bed covering her head with her blankets, she listened as her team grumbled about and cleaned up the remains of the chair before getting dressed. Team JNPR had came over to see what had happened but Yang simply told them to not worry about it, it was almost an hour later when everyone was finally asleep. Ruby how ever couldn't sleep, mostly from the thoughts that were plaguing her mind, and because of the large bruise that was covering most of her back that refused to let her get comfortable. Silently she got out of bed, wincing when she twisted the wrong way, she made her way towards the window and felt sadness wash over her when she saw the cracked glass. Slowly she opened the window letting the breeze flow through the room as she climbed up and sat on the windowsill, she wanted to apologize to Rodric, and beg him to forgive her. He was right, she had pushed him to far, she was so stupid for forgetting what Ozpin had told her, what kind of leader was she to be so insensitive like that. She clenched her fists as she looked up towards the shattered moon above her, she vowed she wouldn't sleep that night until Rodric came back and she had apologized to the best of her abilities to him.

Rodric never returned to the dorm that night...


	6. The Legend Revealed

_**With the conclusion of this chapter, I'm actually curious if anyone saw this coming...eh if you did tell me so, if you didn't well tell me anyway. **_

* * *

**The Legend Revealed**

Ruby was exhausted, she had stayed up all night on Friday waiting for Rodric to return only to realize that with the rising sun, he wasn't going to come back. She frowned at the thought and slowly climbed down from the windowsill, she took a shower and quickly got dressed leaving the dorm before the rest of her team could wake up. She didn't want them to know she had stayed up all night waiting for him, knowing Yang she would only get more upset that she was now losing sleep over him, though if she found out about the bruise on her back there wasn't going to be anything she could do to stop Yang from going on a school wide rampage. She yawned loudly as she made her way down to the dinning room, maybe if she ate something she would be able to wake herself up. Thankfully the dinning room was still empty only barely filled with students who either had extra work that needed doing on the weekend, or for those who were up early to head out into Vale.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she grumbled softly as she made her way over to where the kitchen staff would set up the food for the students to help themselves to. Grabbing a plate Ruby stumbled her way over to the food looking over it, she didn't know what to get, she wasn't feeling hungry at all really but she knew if she wanted to stay up for the day she had to actually eat something. It sucked when food smelled this good and you didn't have an appetite, Ruby closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply hoping the smell would stir whatever hunger rested inside her, though it had the opposite affect as everything seemed to slowly fade away.

* * *

Rubbing his stomach Jaune walked into the dinning room, hoping some of the ham was still left, whatever those cooks were doing to it made him extremely addicted to it. It was pretty much one of the other reasons that actually made him wake up early, the other being, if he didn't then Pyrrha would set off the 'Nora alarm clock' as she called it. After the first time, that was more than enough motivation for him to wake up the first time, shuddering slightly he turned towards the table of food and noticed a familiar red cloak. "Oh hey Ruby!" _Huh...that's strange, _usually Ruby would at least wave back if she heard him, yet she didn't and it looked like she wasn't actually doing anything. Confused he wandered over to her after grabbing his own plate and tried again, "Hey Rubes, your up pretty early." He gave the standard ten seconds for the statement to sink in as she was usually lost in thought and it would take a moment for her to react, though when those ten seconds were up she still didn't say anything. Now he was getting worried, was she upset with him, and if she was then what did he do? He wasn't one to make people upset with him, then again if that was the problem and he didn't know what he did, it was a big possibility that he did something.

He leaned forward closer to her hoping to get her to look at him at least, but as he got closer he could hear a faint sound coming from her, it sounded like...like she was snoring. Surprised by this he stepped around and stood in front of her only to find that she was, in fact, snoring or more accurately asleep on her feet. Jaune would have found this amazing if he wasn't completely caught off guard by the fact that, **she was asleep standing up**, he grasped her shoulders and gently shook her as to not completely scare the crap out of her. "H-Hey Ruby you might want to wake up...like now." When she didn't wake he shook her a bit harder, increasing every so often until he was furiously shaking her, earning a few strange looks from the other students that were in the room. "Come on Ruby, this is just getting weird, come on wake up!" She flinched at the sudden loud noise, that was good, he had at least gotten some reaction from her.

Grumbling softly Ruby opened her eyes slowly, having to quickly shut them as the light shone brightly in her eyes, after a moment she tried again. The evil brightness had faded away significantly as she blinked a few times to focus her eyes, when everything began to clear up the first thing she noticed was blue eyes and short blonde hair. Her eyes shot up when she realized that this person was much to close to her, "Jaune!" She tried to take a step back onto to find that someone had replaced her legs with wet noodles, that single step sent her to the ground landing roughly on her backside. She groaned in pain as she looked up at Jaune who was now looking down at her with a concerned expression, "What happened?" She rubbed her head as a small throbbing pain began to set in from her rather rude awakening, "Ugh, where am I?"

"You're in the dinning room, as for what happened, well you were asleep...on your feet." Ruby looked up at him like he was crazy, that was impossible...no one could fall asleep standing up, she wasn't a horse.

"What? No I wasn't." She pushed herself to her feet hissing softly as her numb legs sent painful shocks through her body, maybe she did fall asleep after all that would explain why her legs were numb. People don't usually get numb legs from just standing around...maybe. She tried to take another step only to stumble and be saved from another fall by Jaune who held her by the shoulders.

"Actually you were, I spent the better part of five minuets trying to wake you up, for what it's worth the school could have been crumbling down and you would have still slept through it...though that's not a good thing." He shook his head as he helped her make, uneasy steps, towards one of the large tables. As she took her seat he went back to the food and grabbed them both a plate of common breakfast foods; toast, eggs, bacon and plenty of ham for him, he also grabbed a cup of coffee for Ruby seeing as she was in dire need of it. When he returned he saw her resting her head on her hand, though her eyes were closed showing that she was either already asleep again, or she was slowly fading into that point. He set the plates down as noisily as he could without actually breaking the dishes, it did what he hoped and had Ruby jumping at the noise as she sat up, before looking down at the good. She muttered a low 'thanks' before nibbling on a piece of bacon, "So...how are you?"

Ruby looked towards Jaune frowning with a piece of bacon in her mouth, "Really Jaune? Really? I'm exhausted for one, I feel sick to my stomach for two, and my back is killing me for three. That's how I'm feeling..." Ruby looked down to her plate of food and sighed before pushing it away, she was in no way a morning person, sure she could get up early but that didn't mean she liked it. She was what her sister called 'a cranky ass' and it seemed much more so since she didn't get a wink of sleep whatsoever, "Look...I'm sorry Jaune I just didn't get any sleep last night because I was waiting for Rodric to- say you haven't seen him have you?" Jaune shook his head causing Ruby to deflate as she crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down on it, she yawned loudly as she closed her eyes feeling sleep ready to claim her again.

"Speaking of Rodric um...well I'll just be blunt. What the heck happened last night?" Ruby looked towards him, hurt hidden behind her silver eyes as she quickly averted her gaze looking off into a corner of the room, "I mean we all heard shouting from your dorm, Pyrrha wanted to go and find out what was going on, but Ren said that we shouldn't get involved with someone else's affairs. But...but then we heard that crash and we figured we should at least see if you guys were alright, then Yang said not to worry about it, but I mean we kind of are."

Ruby frowned and buried her face in her arms, she didn't really want to think about what must have been going through their heads hearing all that shouting an then hearing the crash that was her and her sister breaking a chair with their bodies. It didn't help that her mind was still wracked with guilt for having pushed Rodric to that point all she wanted to do was just apologize and put the whole thing behind them, though she was sure that's what Rodric _had_ wanted to do when she pushed him to the breaking point. Giving a heavy sigh she slowly looked up to Jaune who was slowly eating his breakfast his eyes still on her, she turned her head and laid them on her arms, "It's a long story..."

Ruby explained everything that happened after they had all left dinner last night, everything from how she had forced Rodric to tell them about his home, all the way up till he snapped. Ruby surprised herself, she only had to stop four times to calm herself down, and to keep the tears from spilling over. As she retold the events it became painfully clear just how hurtful she must have sounded to ignore his pleas to stop, "I was so stupid Jaune...I mean I heard him clear as day beg me to stop, and I didn't...for whatever stupid reason I chose to ignore him and now look, I have no idea where he is or if he's coming back." She buried her face in her arms once again giving off a heavy sigh, she knew very well that he wouldn't have left Beacon as Professor Ozpin would have likely messaged them via scroll to retrieve the little runaway, though even if he was still here that didn't mean he was obligated to be around them. She frowned slightly, having the idea that she single handedly ran off a potential friend all because she couldn't take a hint unsurprisingly, didn't sit well with her. Looking up slightly she noticed Jaune had stopped eating and was merely staring at the plate of food before him, a strange look on his face, "What are you thinking about Jaune?"

He gave a soft hum, "I'm thinking I'm probably not the best person to come to for advice..."

"Jaune..."

"Honestly Ruby, I-I got nothing, aside from finding the guy and apologizing to him I don't really know what else to do. I mean from the sound of it, he...went through some pretty gruesome things, not a lot of people want to remember something like that and you kind of forced him too."

"Not helping..." She whined before burying her face back into her arms, to hide the fact that tears were threatening to spill over.

"I know I just...I don't know what to say Ruby, you guys told me Professor Ozpin asked you all to watch over him, if that was the case he wouldn't have gotten far otherwise he would have told you so. You'll find him if you look I'm sure, he's probably around somewhere trying to keep off your radar. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."

She shook her head slightly refusing to look up, "It's alright Jaune...I'll figure something out."

* * *

He shook his head as he rubbed his eyes slightly, trying to keep himself awake had proven difficult, even when he stole away a cup of coffee as the cooks were setting up breakfast didn't seem to be helping him that much. It had been several hours since the incident in the dorm room, though it didn't take that long to realize he had made a terrible mistake. Saying all those things to a young girl was not something he should have done, though he found he at least had the self control to leave out the horrific details. Sadly he was barely keeping himself from going into the details, running his hands through his hair he sighed heavily as his neck began to tighten up from sitting up all night. After having left the dorm he didn't know where to go, and seeing as he couldn't simply return to the dorm after that he had went to the gym to work off some steam as they would say. However not even an hour after he arrived the lights turned off, on a timer he had assumed and sadly left to find a new spot to waste his night away.

Luckily it seemed the library remained open for the night, though the main lights were shut off and the terminals seemed to be in the same position as well. Candles littered the large room sitting on each table and hanging from the sconces on the wall, despite it being a more...primitive way to light a room it seemed to keep it fairly lit. Setting himself up at a table he began to read the books that the students hadn't bothered to put back up, though as time went on he found himself growing more and more weary, he wanted to sleep truly he did but there was no way he was going to sleep well in a chair. That's where the coffee came in, he pinched the bridge of his nose groaning in exhaustion before sighing heavily once again. "Wow that was quiet a sigh."

Lowering his hand he looked up to see a girl standing on the opposite side of the table looking curiously at him with deep emerald green eyes, they seemed even brighter against her tanned skin. His mind wasn't functioning properly with the lack of sleep as he groggily replies, "Excuse me?" Despite that she seemed to giggle at his response, why, he had no idea as it was a simple response nothing funny about it. Without asking the girl pulled up a chair and sat down propping her head up on her arms as she looked at him curiously, she didn't say anything merely stared at him, he frowned at this, "Is...there something I could help you with?" She merely shook her head, her sandy blonde hair swaying with the movement, again this only caused his frown to deepen.

"Seems like your the one who needs help, with you sighing like that and all." She gave him a wide smile before lowering her arms and leaning forward on the table slightly, "So...what's up?" He sighed heavily again rubbing his eyes as he fought back a snarky remark, he was not a morning person, especially to be pestered this early in the morning by some girl who felt she could just fix everything. As he opened his eyes he noticed she was stroking a large fuzzy looking object, it was when it twitched and slid from the table to raise up behind her did he realize what it was.

"You're a faunus aren't you?" She tilted her head curiously at him, and it was then that he noticed that, blended against her blonde hair, was a pair of short rounded ears colored the same sandy blonde. That was strange, from what Velvet had told him most faunus were either born with a tail or ears or some other trait but never more than one. Was she a special case?

She reached behind her and brought her tail back into her lap as she leaned back against the chair gently stroking her tail as she sighed softly, "Yes I am...does it bother you?" It wouldn't be the first time someone refused to speak to her merely because she was a faunus or for that _other _reason, though he wouldn't know about it so it had to be about her being a faunus. "You should just say so now because I would rather not hear any of the hurtful stuff you-"

"No, no I don't have a problem with it I was merely asking. You'll have to forgive me, I'm still not used to seeing faunus, the only one I grew accustomed to was Velvet. Though it would only make sense that there is more than one..." He trailed off as he looked down towards the table, at least if he ceased his ramblings now he wouldn't accidentally say something hurtful to someone who doesn't deserve it. He looked back up towards her, seeing she was busy fussing with her tail he cleared his throat before starting up again, "If I may...I am curious as to why...um a-as to why you have both ears and a tail." He frowned slightly before instantly adding, "I-If you don't wish to speak about it you are in no way obligated to answer me."

She giggled softly before shaking her head, "No I don't have a problem with it, why would I?" She could see he was struggling to answer her clearly rhetorical question as she giggled again, "You're weird. Anyway, it's a rare genetic mutation, at least that's what my doctor said when I was taken to see about it. From what he says on very rare occasions a faunus can be born with more than one trait from the parents, though I don't think it's true."

Rodric leaned forward, a little curious, "Why do you say that?"

She leaned forward giggling once again, "Well there's another faunus here at Beacon who's just like me, well...not just like me but you know what I mean. His name is...Michael? At least that's what it sounded like, he's part of Team Malevolent." Rodric nodded slightly, as he noticed the girl seemed to stare off into space before remembering where she was, "Oh speaking of his name, my name is Nyx, Nyx Rothschild part of Team Raven." She held out her hand to which he smirked and took in his giving her a gentle handshake.

"Well met Nyx, I'm Rodric."

She looked at him expectantly, "Rodric..." She made a motion with her free hand urging him to continue.

He gave a short laugh as he released her hand and returned to his position, "No, it's just Rodric."

Giving a curious hum, to which she nodded slowly, "Yup, I was right, you're pretty weird." She laughed softly when she noticed him frowning, "In a good way though I promise you...so feel like talking now?" He gave a heavy sigh leaning his head back as he stared at the high ceiling of the library, before finally replying.

"I suppose I should, I assume you won't drop it until you find out what's wrong, hm?"

"You would assume right sir." She laughed softly as she ran her fingers through the soft fur of her tail getting comfy for what would most likely be a long winded story.

"Well I suppose I'll start from the beginning, like all good stories supposedly..."

Nyx had assumed right, it was a long winded story, though not in a good sense. More in the most terrible of ways, she was angry deep down but tried not to show it, when he explained what had happened to Ruby she had stopped stroking her tail and clenched her fists under the table. Ruby was one of the first first friends she made outside of her own team, so she cared about her deeply, and to hear that she was hurt because of the man in front of her didn't sit well with her. Though she couldn't do anything because she had offered to listen to his story, hearing that he was very tore up about hurting her at least eased the anger she felt towards him at least a little, though as he went on about how terrible he felt about saying all those terrible things and then hurting her she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. When he had finished she merely sat there and scratched her head, she was at a lose of words, her at a loss for words. Had Ravyn been there with them she would have been in awe at how this man actually left her speechless, still she frowned slightly before looking up at him, "So...what are you going to do?"

"I don't know...I mean I want to apologize I just don't know how to go about doing it." That was his honest answer, being away from the source of his anger for an extended period of time gave him time to reflect on just how much of a...a monster he acted like last night. Sure he had to revisit, possibly, the worst moment in his existence but that didn't give him nearly enough right to simply lash out at a young girls curiosity...nothing would ever give him that right.

"Well, why don't you start with just saying you're sorry?"

"Nyx...I didn't mean I couldn't find the words, I know what I want to say, it's just getting the opportunity to say them. More than likely she's with her team, and I honestly don't want to see them right now, more so because I know they wouldn't even give me a chance to apologize. I'd rather apologize to her first before trying to do the same for her team."

"Hm, yeah I can see how that would be best, Yang isn't the most...understanding of people after you've made her mad. So how are you going to get Ruby by herself then?"

He shrugged slightly before bringing his forward looking towards Nyx, "I have no idea, I'm sure she's not that eager to be anywhere near me after last night, especially by herself. No doubt she's going to be stuck with her team until they all come looking for me, or Ozpin sends them after me personally." He pinched the bridge of his nose giving a heavy sigh, "You wouldn't happen to know of a really quiet place I can go and think, I rather not stay here any longer than I already have, don't want to risk having one of her friends run into me."

She tapped her chin thinking of a place he could hang out and be all gloomy to himself, she barely stifled a laugh when she though of it like that, he no doubt heard that and was frowning at her. To keep herself from laughing she didn't look at him, "Well you could always hang out on the roof, not a lot of people go up there, so you should be safe for a while at least." He nodded slightly before standing and stretching out his sore muscles.

"Well this has been a wonderful conversation Nyx, but I believe me and a rooftop need to become more acquainted." He turned and started for the door, ready to feel the fresh air and bask in the silence.

"Heh, enjoy yourself just not to much." She burst into a fit of laughter as she struggled to quiet herself. Rodric shook his head but didn't stop as he smirked.

"What a strange creature."

"Ferret, actually."

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look back at Nyx who merely smiled and pointed to her ears, which twitched slightly, "I'm a ferret faunus, just so you know." Rodric looked at her before smirking once again and turning towards the door, Nyx smiled as she leaned back in the chair stretching her arms up over her head with a soft groan, the front legs of the chair lifted off the ground before falling forward again. She couldn't help but smile to herself, she was happy at least somewhat, despite knowing that this guy had hurt her friend he honestly didn't seem like the type of person who did it intentionally. He would be a good friend, if and when he apologized to Ruby for hurting her, she turned and looked out of the library as a large smile came over her face, _Speaking of Ruby. _She quickly stood and threw the window open leaning out of it practically falling out of it as she shouted to her, "Hey Ruby I got to tell you about something!"

* * *

She fidgeted slightly as she stared at the door in front of her, Nyx had told her where to find Rodric, though she was a little curious as to why she would tell her after she had said that Rodric had went to find peace and quiet away from everyone. Maybe it was simply that, that was making her nervous, he wanted to be alone and here she was about to intrude on that. She thought about simply turning around and leaving, after all she knew where he was now, so she didn't exactly have to bother with looking for him anymore. But, this would also be a good chance for her to apologize and at least talk to him a bit, if she waited until he same back there was no way she was going to get a moment to apologize because no doubt Yang would be hovering around at all times to make sure he didn't 'hurt' her again. After mentally arguing with herself she found that she had already grabbed the door handle and was pushing it open before she could stop herself, the roof was a spacious place as any roof would usually be. She had never really been up here before but it seemed like a fairly nice place to just sit and relax, it was very empty as it was large, meaning that a few people could be up here and they wouldn't have to even bother each other.

She gently closed the door behind her and pressed herself against the wall next to the door as her eyes traveled to the figure sitting along the edge of the roof. _Why does he always sit in dangerous places, _if not in the windowsill of their dorm on the _second _floor then sitting on the edge of the roof on the third floor. She shook her head as she said nothing but merely looked at him as he looked out towards the forest again, he was always looking out there, she always wondered what he found so interesting about a forest filled with all kinds of Grimm. She scooted along the wall trying to move enough to get a look at his face to gauge whether or not it was a good idea to bring up what happened, though by the time she was practically standing at the edge she still couldn't get a good look at his face. She gave a soft sigh as she moved away from the edge and bit her lip, fiddling with her cloak she clenched her hands before shakily starting, "R-Rodric I just want to say I-" She stopped when he raised his hand signaling her to stop, she bit her lip afraid he was going to yell at her, but then was surprised when he simply pointed at the floor before lowering his hand. She slowly slid against the wall until she was sitting with her knees pressed to her chest as she pulled her cloak around her to keep the cold breeze away, and with that they sat in a silence, Rodric staring out into the forest as per usual and Ruby looking towards him, nervous and hesitant about what to say to him.

They both sat like this for a long while, every time Ruby opened her mouth to say something Rodric would simply glance at her from the corner of his eye and she would instantly close her mouth. It put her on edge, she didn't know whether he was angry, upset, happy, or sad, he simply had this stoic look on his face that could rival that of Blake's or Ren's. She had given up on trying to say anything to him after the tenth time, from the looks of it he wasn't going to give her the chance to say what was on his mind, though it didn't seem like he was angry at her seeing as he was at least tolerating her being there. Those brief moments he would cast his eyes towards her she was able to at least see something in them, not the hate she had expected but...strangely pain. She shifted slightly and hissed when her back pressed hard against the wall, _there it is again...wait, _was that it? Was he looking at her like that because he felt bad for what happened, she shook her head a small smirk on her face, she couldn't believe that's what he kept looking at her for. She leaned back against the wall, slower this time, as she closed her eyes before sighing, it was only then did she realize what a mistake that was. As she fought to keep her eyes open after mistakenly closing them she found that with each blink it was getting more and more difficult to keep her eyes open. She was still so tired, she didn't want to give in for fear that if she woke up, he would have left again, despite her best attempts she slowly gave into sleep and the last thing she saw before her eyes closed was Rodric looking at her again.

He returned his gaze towards the forest, when Ruby had finally succumb to sleep, he had a feeling deep down after he left the previous night that she wouldn't have slept. She's a sweet girl, although a bit naïve when it came to speaking with people, she didn't mean anything by what she asked last night and he knew that. That's why he also knew she would have wanted to apologize for speaking the way she did, though he knew there was no need for it, those memories that pained him greatly were in the past, a past he should have long distanced himself from. It seemed though that when he awoke in this time, in this world, that they were as fresh in his mind almost as if they had happened the previous day. Villages burning, people dying, his love screaming for him, all of it seemed to have happened so recently. It only made sense as to why he reacted the way he did, though he knew he shouldn't have done so, it was only after it was all said and done did he realize what a folly he had made. It was then he also realized that, there was no way they were going to listen to a single thing he said after what he had done, he thought giving them both of them some space would have helped but it seemed it didn't. He rubbed his temples before slowly lowering himself back onto the cold floor of the roof, he stared up at the sky watching as the clouds lazily moved with the breeze, he couldn't help but smile as a familiar ache filled his chest as he looked up towards the infinite blue sky. _If only I could be there once again..._

* * *

_Falling, slowly but falling nonetheless, you always get the strangest feelings as you fall. For a moment you feel weightless, light, and strangely enough...free. Free from all the problems that you face, the only thing that really matters in that moment is that wonderful sense of vertigo as your entire body is filled with a tingling sensation that numbs all your limbs. Painful, but in a strange wonderful sense, it makes you feel alive; your mind races and your heart pumps rapidly. Despite knowing what comes after falling for so long, you still feel so carefree in the moments before, it feels like forever as you plummet down back to the cold reality that you must face. Pain._

Ruby's eyes shot open, her heart racing almost painfully so in her chest as she found herself in a new position, she must have fell over when she had fallen asleep. She slowly pushed herself back into her previous position hissing softly at the pain that radiated through her body, funnily enough it wasn't from her back but from her head when it came in contact with the floor. Her chest as well, her heart was racing painfully face, though that is what happens when you are startled away, she knew that all to well growing up with Yang. She was more surprised she hadn't died of a heart attack from Yang scaring her out of a peaceful sleep, she learned to start locking her door after that one time, though it never really seemed to deter her sister. She leaned forward as she stretched her entire body out groaning softly, despite the uncomfortable place she found herself, she strangely felt more rested, but then again simply sleeping when your body demanded would make any sleep feel amazing. As she rubbed her eyes, she looked towards the spot Rodric had been earlier, only to find him gone, sighing softly she had figured that was what was going to happen, well at least that was until she looked down.

He was still there, laying on his back facing the sky, from where she was she could tell him was asleep, she couldn't blame him really it was strangely comfortable up here despite being a little chilly. She couldn't help but smile as she looked at him, he seemed so much different than when he was awake, that scowl he would usually have wasn't present, he actually seemed calm and relaxed for at least the moment. She wondered if he was dreaming, about the things he had told her about, he said that he usually dreamt about...all those things. Though from his even breaths he seemed to at least be sleeping peacefully at least for the moment, she looked up towards the sky resting her head against the wall as she sighed. A shrill ringing tore through the, admittedly, peaceful silence, Ruby jumped a few inches from her spot on the ground. She pulled out her scroll and fumbled around with it nearly dropping it as she quickly tried to answer the call, as she did a picture of her sister appeared on the screen, she had a worried look in her eyes, _"Geeze there you are, where have you been? You've been gone for hours and none of us could find you, you had me worried sick!" _

Ruby gave a nervous chuckle, apparently telling her team that she was going to look for Rodric has slipped her mind, "S-Sorry," she said in a hushed tone trying to keep from talking so loudly, "I kind of fell asleep when I went to go look for Rodric...I guess I forgot to tell you guys, sorry."

Yang frowned slightly when she found out that her sister went missing for the better part of close to three and a half hours, simply looking for that guy, _"Seriously Rubes, after what he did last night I don't even know why you're trying, he could hurt you if you find him and if he does I'm going to-"_

"Yang that wasn't his fault yesterday, and I realize that, I shouldn't have pushed him that far. Granted he didn't have to go that far either telling me some of those things, but I did kind of ask for it really, I was just hoping I could find him and see if I could apolo-"

_"OH HELL NO! My baby sister is not going to apologize to some ass, who sent her crashing into a chair, that punk better come crawling back on his hands and knees and beg you for forgivness. You get your butt back here Rubes, your search is done I'm not going to let you say a damn thing to-"_

"Yang, that's enough I'm going to apologize to him whether you want me to, I have to because it was my fault that happened, I heard you ask me to stop to last night but I still didn't listen to you. So it is my fault that it happened end of story."

_"...Whatever, you seem to have you mind set on this and I guess I can't stop you. But, if I find out that he laid his hands on you then I'm going to find him and rip his arms and shove them so far up his-"_

"U-Uh I-I gotta go Yang I'll see you tonight alright bye!" She quickly closed the scroll as she slowly looked up to see Rodric looking at her a small smirk on his face, her face began to bloom a deep crimson shade as she quickly looked away from him. Curse her bad luck, the moment Yang started to bad mouth him, he had to wake up.

"She has quite the mouth on her doesn't she?"

"Y-Yeah..." She didn't dare look at him, more so out of fear of what he would say or do because of what he heard Yang say. Though she was more surprised when she heard him start to laugh, it was such a strange sound to hear come from him considering it was the first time she even heard him do it. She hesitantly looked up at him only to see him looking back out towards the forest, and before she could stop herself she found herself asking, "Why are you always looking out there?" She quickly covered her mouth despite the words having already left them.

She flinched slightly when his laughing ceased, though he didn't say anything, he merely leaned back on his hands a small smile on his face. "It feels like home." That's all he said, but it didn't really answer her question, from what it had said last night she thought he lived in a village.

"But...I thought you lived in a village?"

Again she flinched, cursing herself for forgetting what had caused that fight last night, though this time he didn't say anything for a long while, he merely kept quiet before sighing softly. "I never said I lived in a village, but I did live near the village, I spent most of my time in the forest I was more in my element there. The villagers had gotten used to my presence there but I could tell it made them nervous to see me wandering around the forest so close by, as much as they revered me they still feared me, it was humorous to me at least. I decided to at least lessen their worries about me and took residence up in a cave just above their village, they at least seemed a little more comfortable about that arrangement, though I found it extremely uncomfortable." He shrugged his shoulders slightly as he turned towards her and smirked slightly, "I'm surprised your not asking me questions, little one."

She wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her head on them before hesitantly stating, "I-I thought you were mad with me after-"

He sighed heavily as he looked away from her and into the forest, she whimpered softly fearing she might have angered him again, "Child, I'm not angry at you for having a curiosity of my past, I'm more angry with myself for how I reacted." He sat up and crossed his legs as he let out a slow breath, "Its been years since that happened, and yet when you all found me, the memories were fresh in my mind as if they had only happened yesterday. I don't know what caused it...I haven't thought about her in so long, so long in fact that I almost forgot about it all, yet..." He gave another sigh as he ran his hand over his hand trying to calm himself.

"W-What was her name..."

He looked towards Ruby before looking back towards the forest, he didn't answer right away, he was unsure about talking about his past and all the hurt that came with it. She was such an innocent child, perhaps it would be easier to tell her...everything really. "Serana...that was her name, she was a beautiful girl, eyes like the freshly fallen leaves of autumn. Hair as black as raven feathers, and skin as pale as the freshly fallen snow, she was as lovely as could be. How she ever fell for something like me I'll never understand..." Ruby's ears perked slightly from what he had said, _Something like him...what does he mean? _Even though she had heard that, she couldn't deny the fact that the girl, Serana, she did sound really beautiful. "She was something your kind would call a 'shrine maiden' she took care of me, waited on me, and prayed to me. Such a silly things those humans did praying to me like I was some sort of god...most times I found it annoying and was tempted to scare the humans off, but when she would pray to me...gods her voice was so beautiful. I could compare it to a chorus of sirens singing to me, but even that wouldn't do it justice really." Ruby blushed slightly as she listened to the way Rodric described his lost love, it sounded like something she shouldn't be listening to, almost like one of those intimate things she's read about and yet he didn't seem the least bit hesitant in speaking of her in such a way. Though some of the words stuck in her mind and made her even more curious, _Shrine maiden? Prayed to him? Where is Rodric from anyway?_

"Rodric...what do you mean, I-I don't mean to interrupt by the way, but shrine maidens? Praying to you, you even called yourself a something, what do you mean by all that?" He looked back over to her and smirked slightly before turning completely in her direction.

"Tell me Ruby, you know of the...knights, correct?" She nodded furiously at that, a strange sparkle in her eyes at the mention of knights, seemed she had a strange fascination for those humans. Shaking his head, he ignored the rising anger and continued, "Tell me what exactly do you know about Knights."

"Knights are heroes!" Ruby excitedly shouted, she calmed herself down as she felt her cheeks heating up, this was probably one of her most favorite things to talk about aside from weapons. All those stories Yang would read to her at night about the brave knights saving the beautiful princess had been the main reason she wanted to be a huntress. Not that she would be saving any princesses, but because she wanted to help people so that others might have their own fairytale ending. "Knights always help people no matter what, they always put others before them even if it means losing their lives. They would always fight monsters and save the princess to live happily ever after." Rodric couldn't help but smile at childlike happiness that came over her when she spoke so highly of the knights, it must have hurt her to hear what those knights had done to him.

"What kind of monsters would they fight off child?"

Ruby grew curious as to why this went from talking about his lost love to being a pop quiz about knights and monsters, "Well" she began, "They would fight off demons, magic animals, witches, bandits, evil rulers, evil knights, dragons-"

"Tell me, what do you know of dragons little one?"

She looked up from her fingers where she had been listing off the things knights would fight as she stared at him curiously, "What do you mean?"

"I'm simply curious as to what you know about these...dragons."

She was even more confused when she saw a smirk come over his face, she lowered her hands as she tried to remember the stories from her childhood, "Well um...they were big scary monsters something like giant lizards with wings that could breathe fire." He scoffed at that, "They were always guarding a princess that they had kidnapped and-" another scoff, "...and they always stole treasure from villages that-" again. "Why do you keep doing that?" Ruby frowned slightly, what was so funny that he kept interrupting her even after he was the one who asked her to tell him about dragons.

"Because child I'm assuming you 'learned' all that from your book of fairytales correct? Well I hate to inform you they are all wrong.."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it Ruby, a dragon guarding a princess for what reason? To simply wait for some brave and dashing knight with a roguish smile to slay them and save her? You'd have to be foolish to think a dragon would simply waste their times doing something so...so stupid."

Ruby frowned slightly puffing her cheeks out, "They would if they were ordered too..."

"No, they wouldn't. Dragons are powerful creatures, nothing controls a dragon except more powerful and older dragons such as elder dragons. Also dragons don't care about gold, that is a human concept, to show that dragons are evil and greedy creatures, it is one of the reasons they have turned into the symbol of the sin Greed, because all humans need a face for their own poor upbringing."

"Still evil though..."

"Actually, again, no they weren't. Dragons keep to themselves, but of course humans would think of them as evil because if you poke a bear and it attacks it was simply because the bear was evil. Dragons expect peace just as much as everyone else, they only did what they did because their hands were forced by the humans. Think about it, what creature of that magnitude would settled for simply terrorizing a village when, in all of its immense power, could simply leave it as nothing more than a scorch mark on a map?"

Ruby rolled her eyes as she huffed in annoyance, "Yeah, because you know what a dragon is like right?"

"Do you?"

She quickly stood and frowned at him, "No I don't, you know why? Because dragons don't exist, they've never existed, all they are is made up creatures to put in story books."

"Again you're wrong little one."

Again she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Hah, really? So you're telling me that dragons exist and you know this personally?" He simply nodded to which she shook her head, "Yeah, and I'm secretly a Beowolf who happens to enjoy dressing like a little girl." He chuckled softly as he grinned at her.

"What should I call this Beowolf then, do you still go by Ruby?"

"Har har, very funny, if your being for real then prove it. Show me this supposedly real dragon."

"Well I can't do that-"

"Ha!"

"-as it wouldn't be right for me to undress in front of such a young girl."

"What are you-" She looked at him curiously, what did he mean by that? What did he mean by any of this? She had come up here with mind to apologize to him and here he was being all weird and talking about dragons for some reason. Going so far as to say that dragons actually existed and then acting like he knew about them, dragons are made up...right? She didn't show it on her face, but her mind slowly started to wonder if they did exist or at least used to exist, the way he talked made it sound like he knew about them. The things he said actually made sense, _Actually yeah a dragon wouldn't spend its time guarding a castle...and they wouldn't care about gold because it served no purpose. _She brought her hand to her lips and bit on her nail as she thought, still that didn't explain much of what he said earlier, about shrine maidens and being prayed to, he was just a guy why would they... "No..."

"Seems you finally got it."

"But there's no way..."

He merely smirked as he watched her face contort in confusion, as she tried to fight away the conclusion that was right in front of her. Many times she shook her head trying and trying to deny it, but there was no two ways about it. He couldn't help but smirk as he slowly stood as the look of confusion slowly faded from her face and was replaced by one of shock and surprise, "Are you really a-"

"In the flesh."


	7. A Dragon's Tale

**_AH SHIT...anyway *GASP* a second chapter to the same story uploaded before others, what sorcery is this?!1 After the big reveal to Rodric's character I just felt like writing another chapter. Seeing as I can properly move the story forward now I just wanted to get this out so the story could get a move on. There is still plenty of stuff to come, and as I've been talking with an associate of mine Cyruss Singe, I plan on this story to go on to three 'books' so to speak. So I'm pretty excited to get a move on with this. Anyway RxR, tell me what you think. _**

* * *

**A Dragon's Tale**

Her eye twitched slightly as she tried to focus on the words in front of her, she had checked this book out from the library just after lunch had ended, it had been on her mind for the last few days and she really wanted to read it. Now that it was in her possession she couldn't even enjoy it because of her partner, another heavy sigh caused her eye to twitch again as she glared up at her from over the edge of the book. She had been pacing back and forth for a little over an hour now, ever since Ruby hung up on her she had been pacing back and forth nonstop, "You're going to wear a hole in the floor Yang...just relax I'm sure Ruby's fine."

"How can you know for sure though? She said she was looking for Rodric, what if he got his hands on her and hurt her, I shouldn't have let her go. I should have kept her here, I should have been went to look for her, I should have-"

"Yang." That at least stopped her for a moment, her lialic eyes bore into hers as she sighed softly, "Ruby's a big girl, she can handle herself against someone like Rodric, plus she has Crescent Rose with her. So, if something does happen, not that it will Yang, but if something does she can protect herself." She went back to her book as Yang gave another huff before continuing in her pacing, with Yang freaking out and Weiss being her usual self she had to at least be the calm one during this time. She wouldn't admit it, fearing it would only worry her partner more, but she was worried about Ruby, she wished she had said something about her plans. Then one of them could have went with her, she wasn't worried that Rodric would do something to her, she could feel that's not the type of person he was, but he did seem easily angered. Sadly, Ruby wasn't the type of person to really watch what she would say, and really that's what worried her the most.

"Where could she be..." Yang pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window looking out into the courtyard as the sun slowly set over the Emerald Forest, painting the sky an assortment of oranges and purples. Her eyes glanced towards the side seeing the cracked glass from last night, a frown came over her face, "He better watch himself..."

* * *

"For the last time child, no I can't fly if you've yet to notice I have no wings." He sighed heavily as he rolled his eyes, ever since he revealed himself to her, she had yet to stop pestering him. He supposed it wasn't all bad, that starry eyed look did suit her, still her mouth continued to run rattling off whatever questions decided to pop into her mind. Most of them seemed to be related to his kind, again he supposed that wasn't entirely bad, it always did his kind good to put to rest the lies the humans would make of them. He pinched the bride of his nose as he continued down the hallway with the excitable bundle of Ruby on his heels, he suddenly stopped, stumbling forward a bit as she ran into him. "Okay, enough...what exactly do you wish to know, that doesn't concern my lack of wings or a tail?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck chuckling nervously to herself, "Sorry," she had a feeling she was bugging him but she could hardly contain her excitement, _A dragon...a real dragon. _Though there was a small part of her mind that tried to deny his outrageous claim, the more child like part of her mind completely shut it out and was completely stuck on the idea that she was talking to a real dragon. "C-Can you just tell me everything you can about them? I mean you pretty much told me that dragons don't really guard princesses so...what else did they get wrong?"

He sighed heavily as he rubbed the back of his neck, looking over his shoulder he could see the excited look in her eyes as she eagerly waited for whatever it was he had to say. "What did they get wrong? Everything simple as that." He faced forward again, a small smile on his face as she huffed in annoyance at his simply answer, though he wasn't lying everything that was ever written, spoken, or shown about them is completely untrue. "Where to begin really...I suppose the beginning is the best place, yes? Well as I said everything human's have ever said about us is false, we are not evil, we are not beings of evil, we are not born from evil, and we are not incarnations of evil. Me and the rest of my kind are born from the very world around us, we are incarnations of nature's fury. When the humans started to encroach on our territory on our homes, we did what most humans and animals would do...we became territorial."

"I personally never saw the humans as a threat, I merely saw them as a curious creature, always interested yet fearful of the unknown, when they found us well..." He frowned slightly as he remembered one of the few times he almost killed a human, a young child had followed him through the forest back to his home, when he finally caught wind of the child he almost killed them, thankfully he realized that's all they were. "They can be really foolish sometimes, foolish yet versatile, never have I witnessed such a frail species as them survive trail after trail that has been thrown their way. Even some of my kind are incapable to adapting as they do, perhaps that's why we took such an interest in them..."

Ruby tilted her her sightly as she increased her pace to walk beside him and looked up at him curiously, "What do you mean took an interest?"

He looked at her for a moment before shrugging, "My kind were not known to freely adapt to the changing world, I mean we're huge hulking beasts that breathe fire and fly, it's kind of hard to change let alone hide that." She giggled to which he shook his head smirking, "Back to what I was saying, we took an interest in your kind, you humans, just to see where you would go. You all seemed to adapt so easily; it grew cold, you built fires, you grew hungry, you hunted, you feared, you protected yourselves. It was in that time that you all slowly started to lose interest in us, after all we were just another facet of life, we left you alone and you left us alone, simple as that. It was a wonderful coexistence to say the least, we kept away from each other and never really had a problem with each other."

His eyes began to grow distant as memories began to surface once again, "Yet it didn't seem to last long, it was several centuries later, something happened in that time. Where we once lived in relative harmony, my kind was being sought out, hunted, and killed, and for what...none of us were sure. And just like any creature pushed into a corner...we fought back, my kind united and went to war with the humans. This frail race proved a formidable adversary, they could certainly hold their own against us, it wasn't until a century or so after our war began did we come to a truce. It was a unstable truce to say the least, we wouldn't harm a human or hunt in the area of any town, and the humans wouldn't seek us out anymore." He crossed his arms as he kept his eyes on the ground, watching each step he took, "Truth be told I was not one for this truce, but the elder dragon, an ancient and powerful storm dragon, felt that it was better this way rather than watching our kind die out to these humans. It was not my place to question his choice, once the agreement was made we all went our separate ways, I chose to live as far from others as I possibly could. As, an earth dragon I chose to live-"

"Wait, wait, wait a minuet...an earth dragon?" She tilted her head curiously as he mentioned that and then the other a storm dragon, as far as she knew there was only one type of dragon, what was he talking about?

He sighed softly as he shook his head, "Yes child an earth dragon, as in a dragon who draws his power from nature itself." He looked down at her and he could still see she was very confused as he gave another heavy sigh, "As I said, we are the very forces of nature, fire, water, earth, and air. We are born from these core elements, and when one mates with another they are capable of bearing dragons that have the force of the parents; storm, lava, ice, and in rare cases crystal dragons...though those are more formed from polygamy and our kind looks down on that." He shook his head and waved his hands to get back to the main point, "Back to what I was saying, me being an earth dragon I chose to live in the thick forests away from prying eyes. I slept, for a long time I can only assume, when I awoke most of my home was gone and there was a rather large village that seemingly sprung up over night."

"I-is this where she was..." She bit her lip as she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, she didn't like to keep bringing this subject up but he seemed to be much more talkative than before.

"...No, not yet at least, it would be a few more years before she was even born. But, I did stay with the village, my kind had seemingly become mere myths yet this village revered my kind as some kind of godly being. They were fearful of me at first, as I was of them, yet we some how came to a strange understanding. I would stay in the cave, rather their shrine and they would pray to me, granted I was unsure of what to think at first, but...but had I denied them I would have never met her." He ran his hand over his face giving a shaky sigh, "I-I think that's enough...for now at least."

Ruby nodded silently, she had learned plenty from their small talk, probably more than she really expected to, "O-Ok w-well I guess that's good, cause I'm starting to wonder where were going..."

Rodric looked around seeing that they had stopped at an intersection, and each path led down hallways that all looked the same, "Um...I do not have a clue..." Ruby laughed at that as she wiped her eyes shaking her head.

"Great...well I guess since we're here lets head down to the forge, I have some maintenance I want to perform on Crescent Rose." Rodric merely nodded as he followed behind the young girl, he couldn't help but find it so strange that he opened up to perhaps the strangest person he could have possibly opened up to. But, as he thought about it, perhaps it was simply because he saw a bit of Serana in her, she was sweet and caring much like she once was. Maybe it was because she simply seemed to be the pure embodiment of innocence, it was strange to see anyone with the amount of innocence she possessed. He shook his head trying to dislodge the thought, it was only in doing so did he finally take notice of the heat that he began to feel, as he looked around the hallway had become increasingly barren from what he had saw earlier. The multitude of doors were gone and replaced with a simple, long white hallways, that ended with a set of double metal doors, "Ah, geeze..." He looked down to see Ruby shaking her hand as she bit her lip, "Keep telling them to leave the door open, the handles get too hot..."

Without giving it a second thought he reached for the metal handles and gripped them tightly pulling the heavy doors open, he could feel the heat against his hand but he didn't mind it. She looked up at him, before smirking, "Such a gentleman..." He rolled his eyes as he walked into the large room with her, in the center was the main piece of equipment, on almost ancient looking iron forge. Complete with burning red coals, and large bellows to keep the forge hot, it was strange a school this advanced kept something so...so primitive, _perhaps they enjoy the classics. _He watched as she removed her weapon from the compartment on her back and unfolded it to it's full size, she laid it down on a wooden table before stopping, "Rodric...all you've told me so far has been, honestly, nothing but good...has there been any, well you know...bad dragons?"

He propped himself up against the wall on the far side of where she was set up as he looked off to the side staring into the burning coals, "Just one...the Empress of the Frozen Peaks, an elder ice dragon." He clenched his fists as he popped his neck, trying to work out the mounting frustration, "She...she despised humans, from the very beginning she hated their very existence, if it hadn't been for the Storm Bringer, the war between the dragons and the humans might have never truly ended."

"But why?" He looked up to see Ruby looking towards him with concern in her eyes, though she quickly turned and took hold of various tools to begin whatever maintenance her weapon required, "You had said the other dragons completely ignored us for the most part, why was she so against us?"

He gave a heavy sigh, "Simple, superiority." He pressed his fingers into his temple to ease away the throbbing pain that had set in at the mere mention of the ice dragon, "She saw humans as nothing more than insects, nothing more than vermin soiling our homes and our lands, taking our food and soiling our very way of life. They were nothing more than pests that needed to be wiped out...some of us had suspicious that she was the one who started the war with your kind, but none were brave enough to speak out. After all no one was willing to face the wrath of an elder dragon..."

"Why?" His head shot up at the ridiculous question, "You make the dragons sound so powerful, why would they be afraid of one of their own?" His mouth hung slack, he had to remind himself that she didn't know anything about dragons, that was why they were having this very talk. He slowly closed his mouth before clearing his throat.

"Allow me to explain then, we dragons are not immortal as one would be led to believe, we can die and we have, many in fact during the war. The only thing different between you and I is my longevity, for a human year roughly 500 years would pass for us. It is only in that sense do we seem immortal when it is not the case, we simply outlive you." He pushed off the wall and made his way towards the large forge in the center of the room, the heat growing strong as he moved closer to it, "Though we eventually succumb to age, there are other things that can prematurely end our lives..." He looked down into the red hot coals as he winced slightly at the strong heat emanating from it, "Just like all creatures we can succumb to injuries, though they would have to be many many injuries, for simply ones we can easily heal from. The very blood that flows through our veins is what heals us, unlike you humans, our blood has a property that speeds up healing almost one hundred times than it would normally take. Perhaps that is one reason my kind was hunted, sadly most humans are unable to use our blood..."

"Why?"

"It's deadly." He smirked slightly when she gasped at that knowledge, "Yes, but not in the sense that its poisonous, more so in the sense that it would be like trying to use magma to cauterize a paper cut. Our blood is boiling hot, much hotter than these coals, and once it is applied, there is no stopping it." Ruby covered her mouth as the imagine of boiling blood burning through someone's flesh causing them to scream out in agony as they tried to undo the foolish mistake they had made. She quickly shook her head to dislodge the thought from her mind, as she looked back over to Rodric her eyes widened in shock as she watched him reach into the forge and grab one of the hot coals. Her skin crawled as she listened to his skin his and sizzle under the extreme heat, once the lead in her stomach faded she rushed over to him and grabbed his arm causing him to drop the coal back into the forge.

"What's the matter with you why would you do that?!" She quickly dragged him over to the sink in the far corner of the room, hoping that she would at least be able to keep the skin from being damaged any further, "Wait...dammit I can't use water, what was that thing Weiss told me about burns...um...um..." She smacked her hand against her head urging herself to remember, _Of all the times for me to draw a blank. _

He chuckled softly, "What are you doing little one?" She glared at him and shoving his hand in his face.

"I'm trying to save your hand after you went and grabbed those coals like an idiot!"

He merely smirked and sighed, "Save my hand from what?" He turned his hand to show her that it was completely unharmed, her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the undamaged skin. She had expected to see charred, black, and burning skin but when he showed her, all she saw was...nothing. His hand was perfectly fine albeit a bit red, she looked up at him confused as he gently pried his hand from her grasp and moved over to her weapon. "As I said, it takes much more than simple wounds to do us in, much less from the very elements we are born from..." He turned her weapon so the blade was curved upwards, slowly he ran the palm of his hand over the blade wincing slightly as he felt the steel cut into the flesh, again she ran over and grabbed his hand allowing the weapon to clatter back into place. He could feel her shaking, though she was much calmer than before, he looked down at his hand and saw the blood rushing forth from the wound. As he said, his blood seemed to bubble slightly as it met the air, almost instantly the sizzling sound began again though this time it was accompanied by a small line of smoke. He looked to her eyes as she simply stared down at his hand, watching the blood heal the wound, despite frightening her he could see wonder in her eyes. In her bright silver eyes, he found himself smiling slightly before slowly moving away and removing his hand from hers.

"Wow..." That was all she could manage to say, it was...crazy to see something like that, even their aura took hours to heal even the most minor of injuries, let alone something like that. Yet, within seconds of slicing his hand open, it was already healed and it didn't even leave a mark, had it been healed with aura it would have at least left a small scar. "That's...that's just...wow."

He nodded slowly with a smirk on his face, "It certainly is..." He looked down to see the blood was now gone as he looked up at her, "So what was this maintenance you needed to do anyway?"

She waved her hand and smirked slightly, "Oh nothing major, I just need to replace the blade...but I have been thinking about doing something with the ammunition I have...I haven't ever tried it before so I'm a little excited to see how it turns out." As she turned and bounced back to her weapon he couldn't help but feel a heavy bout of unease come over him as he watched her begin to take her weapon apart, _She knows what she's doing...right?_

* * *

Yang had taken to pacing once again, the low hanging sun was now gone behind the tall trees of the Emerald Forest, the sky was a deep purple-ish black. Both Weiss and Blake had already gotten dressed for the night and were ready for sleep, the only thing keeping them both up was Yang. "You guys, I cannot be the only one freaking out right now, Ruby has been gone for too long. Something happened, dammit I don't even know where to start looking, she won't answer her scroll, god I can't believe I was stupid enough to-"

"If she won't answer her scroll, then there is only once place she can be Yang." Blake rubbed her tired eyes as she glared at Yang, as much as she cared for her partner and her partner's sister, she cared a lot for her sleep as well. A cranky Blake was not a nice Blake, she looked up to see Yang looking down confused at her causing her to groan in exasperation, "Where was she the last hundred times she didn't answer her scroll, Yang."

Yang pondered this for a moment, the last time Ruby was gone for so long and refused to answer her scroll was when- she snapped her fingers in remembrance, "The forge!" She practically jumped on Blake wrapping her in one of her death hugs before gently patting her head, "Thanks kitty cat." With that she practically bolted out the door slamming it behind her, Blake's face was a deep red as she glared at the door.

"Ugh, is it bad that I'm glad she's finally gone?" There was no response, "Weiss?" She looked over and saw her white haired teammate was out cold, Blake merely shrugged before turning over in her bed yawning before closing her eyes.

* * *

Rodric found it fascinating how hard the young girl before him worked to maintain her weapon, he also found it fascinating how complex and intricate her weapon truly was. All the bits and ends that came from the weapon as she slowly and ever so gently pulled it apart, making sure no bolt or screw got lost in the mess that was the work bench. He kept his distance from her allowing her to work in comfort, though he couldn't help but feel compelled to be closer to her, he didn't want to hover though. Occasionally she would hiss or mutter a curse under her breath a she would quickly jerk her hand away from whatever hurt her, he couldn't explain the strange feeling he got when he witnessed this, but he didn't like it. Despite the injuries she continued to work diligently, not saying much as her entire focus was on her weapon, it was so odd to see this normally energetic girl quelled by simply working on something she enjoyed.

His heart clenched up slightly as he watched her pulled the massive blade of her scythe and set it off to the side, he wanted to tell her to be careful and not cut herself, but seeing as she already had he felt his expression would have been dismissed. Even with several injuries she continued to work, considering the way she moved so fluidly reaching for tools and other items without even looking up simply from memory, he knew she was used to sustaining those injuries. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her toil away, his mind began to drift back to the days of old, the rare times he would wander around the village, much to the villagers shock and awe. He would usually find himself sitting outside of the smith shop looking in from the tiny windows watching as the smith would toil away making whatever it was the villagers had requested. He always found it so fascinating, the humans ability to make things from the very earth itself, they never ceased to amaze him. He was brought back from his memories at the joyful shout of, "Done," she scratched her head slightly, "Well kinda..."

"Is something the matter?"

She looked over her shoulder as she shook her head slightly as she set her weapon down and moved over to a different bench, "Not exactly..." She pulled out a large red box from under her cloak and set it on the table as she began to pull out small grey colored objects from the box. Each one she gently set it down on the flat end, leaving them standing, "Thing is...I never actually done this before, well I was never allowed to do this before..." His heart clenched again, more so out of fear than concern this time, he moved over to her out of pure instinct as he stood next to her at the table looking down at all the objects left standing.

"What exactly are you going to do child?"

She gave a sheepish laugh as she took one of the bullets in hand and set it down on the machine in front of her known as the puller, once she fixed the round in place she carefully eased the bullet apart. Taking the casing she poured the powder and primer into a small container off to the side. "Well I want to try and replace the gunpowder in these with some Burn Dust...h-heh Weiss never let me try, said it was 'too dangerous' but i-it should be fine..." _I hope. _She kept her eyes focused as she slowly took apart every round dumping the powder and primer out, soon she was left with a mess of rounds and casings, she swallowed the lump in her throat as she moved over to a case on the far wall. The case was lined with various types of dust, hesitantly she reached for the small vial of Burn Dust and returned to her spot. Completely ignoring the scale, she began to slowly pour some of the dust into the casing, at this point she was completely eying it. Once it seemed like enough she set it down in the presser along with the round, gripping the lever she pulled down on it forcing the two separate pieces to become one again, she waited for a moment before sighing when nothing seemed to happen. "Well...there, nothing to worry about."

Rodric quirked his brow as he watched the young girl work, watched as she pulled apart the grey objects only to replace the silver powder with a bright red powder. That alone made him uneasy, yet as she worked his fears slowly ebbed away, once again he marveled at how diligently she worked despite this apparently being her first time doing this. He didn't quiet understand why, it seemed so simple, replace the silver powder with the red powder and then put it back together. He shook her head smirking slightly, how could he have been worried about something so simple, he looked down to see Ruby setting up the last object as she turned to him hands on her hips, "Well I'd say that's a job well done, though...can you not tell Weiss? She made me promise not to do something like this but, I was so tempted to so...please?"

He sighed heavily as he eventually shrugged, "Fine, fine I won't tell..." His words trailed off as he noticed something odd about the objects, they were slowly fading from grey and beginning to glow a bright red. "Um...should they be doing that?" Confused Ruby quickly turned around and yelped in surprise, she took a cautious step back as the rounds grew brighter and redder by the second.

"No..."

"No?" They both jumped at the shot that rang through the room, and then a second, whatever she had done was setting off the rounds before them, without thinking he grabbed Ruby and turned his back towards the glowing rounds. He pulled her close against him just as they all went off at once in a condensed explosion filled with metal and fire, he held his ground as the force of the blast pressed firmly against his back. The fire raged around him, he could feel it licking at his back and arms, it caused him to tighten his hold on the girl as he tried to protect her as much as he possible could.

* * *

Yang grumbled as she wandered the now dark halls of Beacon, usually Ruby would be back by now, usually they would both be in bed asleep, usually she wouldn't be angry enough to beat her baby sister to a pulp. But, this wasn't usually, she had gone to find Rodric and hadn't returned. Being the big sister she felt so stupid for letting Ruby go on her own, along with that deep-seated regret, all kinds of terrible things ran through her mind. Every bad thing that could happen played out in her mind and it made her sick, her pace sped up every time an image of her Ruby popped into her head of being hurt or worse, she was practically running through the halls looking for the forge. Her heart was pounding as she tore around corners almost slamming into the opposite wall, _Dammit where is this place..._She hated this, she had only been down to the forge a couple of times, she found it to hot so stayed clear of the place but, now that she needed to find it she couldn't remember the way.

As she took another corner she spied a pair of metal doors down a long hallway, she rested against the wall taking deep breaths, she remembered the metal doors of the forge. A smirk played on her lips as she took breaths to slow her heart down, giving a light cough she stood and quickly made her way towards the doors, "When I get my hands on her I swear I'm gonna-" The metal doors flew open slamming into the walls leaving deep cracks in them as black smoke billowed out from the forge. Her heart clenched tightly in her chest, from the blanket of darkness she could see a faint flickering light of fire, it was only when she stumbled did she realize she was running. Fear fueled her as she tore down the hall towards the smoke filled forge, "Ruby!"

Holding her breath as the hallway began to fill with the thick smoke made running difficult, with each step her legs and muscles burned from lack of oxygen. Her chest began to burn from lack of air, she ended up gasping out for breath as she sucked in a mouthful of smoke causing her to cough roughly, pulling her scarf up to cover her mouth and nose filtered the air at least somewhat. Though it didn't do anything to protect her eyes that began to water as the smoke stung them, rubbing them clear she made her way through the smoke, her only guide was coughing coming from further down the hallway. She grit her teeth as she stumbled her way through the blanket of thick smoke, she knew it had to be Ruby's fault seeing as no one else was ever foolish enough to cause an explosion like this. It relieved her to know that her sister was alright and causing mayhem, but at the same time it worried her, mostly because of the amount of smoke coming from the forge and the force of the explosion. It was enough to throw the heavy iron doors open and crack the walls from the force, the thought made her heart clench again as she began to quick her pace, "Ru-"

"Are you alright?" Yang stopped, she couldn't seem much from the thick smoke, but she recognized that voice, she clenched her fist as pure rage began to build in her chest. Each step she took was one step closer to punching his face in, she was about to call out to him when she heard another voice speak up.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine, what about you?" She stopped and let out a long sigh of relief, it was Ruby, and for the most part she sounded fine aside from the occasional cough. The rapid beating of her heart slowly faded after finding that her sister was alright, despite her being in the same room with Rodric she was relieved to see that all her worries were misplaced. Wading through the smoke she waved her hand occasionally hoping to disperce the smoke, though it seemed to be clearing up as she moved closer to the door.

"Geeze Ruby I'm glad I finally found..." Her words died mid sentence as she looked at the scene before her, most of the wooden benches were either blow apart or smoldering in piles. The forge was a complete mess, with piles of metal scrap and other materials scattered around the room, it looked like a bomb had went off in the room, everything was either thrown around, burned, or completely destroyed. Though that wasn't what left her speechless, it was the position she found the two people in front of her in, and once again again she felt unbridled rage bubbling up from her very core. There on the ground was Ruby and on top of her was Rodric, she didn't trust him after last night but she didn't expect him to be some who would take advantage of a young girl, "What the hell is going on here!"

* * *

Both of their heads shot up as Ruby tilted her head back she saw her sister standing in the doorway fuming, "Yang!" She quickly looked down and saw the position she had been caught in, yelping softly, she could feel her face burning up as she quickly scooted from under Rodric. She stood and dusted herself off as she turned to Yang trying to defuse the situation, "Y-Yang I-I can explain alright just-"

"Oh you can explain, I can't wait to hear this..." She crossed her arms as she made her way over to them, her eyes darting down to Rodric as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, it was then that she noticed that his shirt was barely clinging to his body, held together by a few scraps.

"I don't understand what the problem seems to be..." Rodric dusted his pants off as he strained to look at the damage to his back, he couldn't see much but he could feel his blood flowing down his back slightly, he cursed softly as he rolled his shoulders feeling the pinch in his muscle.

"The problem is that you're trying to put the moves on my sister!" The room was silent from her outburst, aside from the crackling of the burning wood around them. Ruby's face was a deep red as she stared wide eyed at Yang, Rodric merely tilted his head in confusion.

"I...beg your pardon?"

"You think I'm blind or som-"

"Yang!" Ruby's face had yet to cease it's furious blushing as she glared at Yang, she looked at Rodric out of the corner of her eye and saw that he looked truly confused, "I-It's not like that Yang, he was just...protecting me." She wrung her hands as she looked down at the ground, while it was true what she had said she still couldn't get the thought out of her mind about how Yang had found them, it made her heart race but it was mostly from embarrassment.

"Oh? Protecting you huh? Protecting you from wh-" She stopped as she remembered the state of the room she was standing in, "O-Oh..." Her face flushed slightly before she cleared her throat, "W-Well thanks then for protecting my sister...still that's not enough to make up for what you did last night!"

Rodric frowned as he arched his brow, "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, don't think I'm going to forgive you for what you did last-"

"I'm just going to stop you right there Yang. I don't need your forgiveness, I know what I did was wrong, but don't think for one second that it means I'm going to come back crawling on my hands and knees to beg you for forgiveness." He crossed his arms as Yang began to glare at him, "I've come to terms on how I've acted, hence why I haven't come back to the dorm since that night. Aside from that, I don't need anyone's forgiveness except for one persons." He jerked his head in Ruby's direction, "Hers."

Yang was stunned, she didn't except him to speak to her in a way like he did, she opened her mouth to reply but was cut off once again when he spoke, "I seem to recall it was only her that I said all those awful things to, the only one I think I need to make amends with, is Ruby. As for you, I apologize if I might have hurt you physically, but I think the one I should be redeeming myself to is your sister, since you humans seem to suffer more on the...'emotional level.'"

She was speechless, she never saw anyone stand there ground against Yang, especially when she would give them 'the look.' Though what he had said to her is what made her freeze up, he was trying to make up for his actions...to her, not to Yang or anyone else on the team just her. It caused the blush to return on her face as she quickly looked away and stared at the floor, she bit her lip thinking about it, she didn't hold any grudge against him for everything he had said. She had knew that was all her fault, yet he seemed to be willing to do anything to make up for it, it was...sweet in a way. "It's fine..." She mumbled out, her voice seeming to have vanished, though when she looked up she could see the both of them looking at her. She cleared her throat and spoke up louder this time, "I-It's fine Rodric I-I forgive you, but I should be the one saying-"

"Thank you Ruby." She froze, her throat tightened up, and her heart raced at the way he looked at her. He had a smile on his face, though it was so faint it was hardly there, she was still able to notice it as it seemed to go with the strange content look on his face. _Was it really eating him this badly? _She couldn't help but return the smile, though it was quickly wiped from her face when she heard her sister making gagging sounds.

"Sick, you two lovebirds are gonna make me hurl." Rodric merely frowned at that, Ruby's face was practically glowing with the bright blush she had on her cheeks. "Anyway, you should come on back Ruby it's late." She turned her gaze to Rodric as she looked at him warily, "I guess...I guess since Ruby gave the okay, your welcome back to the dorm..." Rodric merely shrugged his shoulders, Yang frowned but said nothing as she glanced at Ruby and jerked her head as she turned and walked back out into the hallway.

Giving a heavy sigh Ruby started to follow, only to stop short and turn to see Rodric still standing in place, she was going to ask what was wrong when a heavy 'plink' echoed through the quiet of the forge. She looked down at the ground only to see the culprit, a metal fragment, again she went to speak only for another 'plink' to cut her off which was followed by another and then another. She looked up to see Rodric wince slightly, "Are you alright?"

He gave a slow nod as he frowned as another metal shard fell to the ground, "Merely uncomfortable, it should take a moment for all the shard to be pushed from my body, still it does not mean it will not hurt." He shifted again as another metal shard fell to the ground.

Ruby flinched slightly as the metal continued to fall to the ground, "A-Are you going to come back to the dorm tonight?"

He shrugged before wincing again, "Possibly, it is fairly late. I might star gaze for a bit, before returning to the dorm to sleep, though I expect to see you fast asleep this time when I return, yes?" A small smirk played on his lips as he looked at her.

Her blush bloomed on her face once again as she looked away puffing up her cheeks and crossing her arms, "Yeah, yeah, whatever I'll be asleep, okay?" She sighed before lowering her arms, "Say Rodric..." He gave a curious hum in response, she bit her lip before continuing, "I've noticed that you're always looking at the sky if not at the forest...why is that?"

He gave a small chuckle, "I thought you would have figured that out by now, child." She gave an irritated huff as she cast a mock glare at him, though it only caused him to chuckle again, "I miss it, nothing more than that. I guess you can say before I came to be in this form I took my ability to fly...for granted. Seeing as I can't very well fly now, I simply miss it."

She felt bad for him, if she was to believe he was a dragon, though after seeing everything he could do she couldn't doubt it any more. Though seeing as he was a dragon, losing the ability to fly might have been really hard on him, "I'm sorry..." She looked up at him to see him merely shrug, "Say, you never did say how you ended up the way you are..."

He sighed heavily shaking his head, "Perhaps another day child, it is fairly late, and you should be heading off to bed now, correct?" He gave another chuckle when she merely rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She turned and began to walk out of the forge as she sighed, he taught her a lot about dragons today, she only wished there was some way she could- her head snapped up as the idea came to her. She turned and shouted down the hall, "Hey Rodric, how would you like to come with me to Vale tomorrow?"

He walked towards the doorway as he looked at her standing there, he didn't know what this 'Vale' was, perhaps it was the town the school was located in. In which case it would be good for him to venture out and see what the world has turned into, perhaps get another set of clothes seeing as the ones on his back were torn and burned. He simply smiled and nodded, "I'd very much enjoy that little one."

"Then you'd better get your star gazing in because were going to go bright and early so we can spend the whole day there." He laughed softly and nodded as she gave a bright smile, "Well goodnight then Rodric."

He waved as she turned and walked down the hallway, a content smile coming over his face, "Goodnight Ruby."

* * *

**_UUUUGH I don't know how to describe this chapter, filler? No, not really, I mean I pretty much go into a detailed history of Dragons and shit, um I don't know I guess it's something like a History Chanel special or something. I mean it makes sense, Ruby only knew things about Dragons from story books. Rodric is merely filling her in on...everything that she got wrong, and I think the next chapter will be pretty much the same thing, but with Ruby teaching him about stuff particularly dust and other stuff if I can think of it. I believe one of the worst things I've read are characters that are kinda like this, where they are dropped in from other worlds with no idea of what's going on, yet they know everything about the world...some how. I guess it's just a bit more believable this way, ya' know?_**


	8. Taking in the Sights

_**First off let me say, WARNING this chapter is hella long. Okay anyway sorry about being away for so long everyone I kinda fell out of writing and got distracted with other things, and then I got a new computer was busy messing with that for awhile, but hopefully this chapter can be an apology granted I feel it wasn't very good, I feel I rushed the end really badly. Anyway tell me what you thing as this is probably my longest chapter ever.**_

* * *

**Taking in the Sights**

After that rather...awkward situation they had found themselves in, Rodric had followed Ruby silently back to her dorm, nothing was said between them on the way back which, in itself, was rather strange. Ruby was never quiet, from the time he spent with the girls, despite it being no more than a week, he learned that this girl was never quiet. When she stumbled forward slightly he realized what it must have been, _seems sleep has finally caught up to her. _He shook his head and closed the distance slightly to make sure she didn't collapse and injure herself, how ironic it would be to injure herself in such away, after she came out unscathed from the explosion in the forge. Glancing over his shoulder, he wondered what would become of the forge considering it was left in a rather abysmal state, though considering how loud it was, it would probably be fixed by the time she visited it again.

As they reached the dorm she clumsily unlocked the door and strode in, he however, remained on the outside of the threshold. He could feel the angry look coming from Yang at her spot on the bed, the others how ever seemed to already be asleep, otherwise he would probably be receiving the same treatment from them. Ruby turned to him, half-lidded, and barely conscious as she instructed him to not be so long as they were going to get up bright and early to travel down to Vale. She also informed him that she was going to leave the door open slightly seeing as he didn't have a 'scroll' as she called it, he simply nodded and bid her goodnight, she merely nodded and yawned before closing the door slightly. He stood for a moment and listened until he heard the creak of the bed signaling her climbing up into it, a moment later the shuffling stopped and was replaced with light snoring. He smirked as he turned away and headed back towards the stairs that would lead him towards the roof.

As he closed the door behind him he sighed softly, he strode over to the railing that allowed him to look over the edge and leaned against it, the cool breeze blew over the roof as he raised his eyes to the sky. The blanket of darkness was dotted with bright stars, slowly he lowered himself down to the ground before leaning back, he flinched slightly when his bare back met the cold rooftop. As his back became accustomed to the cold he rested again as he looked up at the stars, he couldn't believe they seemed much farther than he was used too, not to mention they didn't look all that different that he remembered them. Running his hand through his hair he chuckled softly, _Has it really be that long? _As he slowly lowered his hand to look back up to the stars above, he slowly nodded to himself answering his own question, clenching his fist he frowned. It wasn't fair, he wished to be up there again, to touch the sky and feel the wind against him, to look down and see the ground rushing by, to return home and see-

He shot up as he shook his head, trying to remove the thought from his mind, he had been dwelling to much on his past, it only made sense for those memories and feelings to surface again. He slowly shook his head, _that's right...it only makes sense, _he gave a heavy sigh as he tilted his head back and looked up once again. He was thinking about things he couldn't control, he had to focus on the fact that he was going to be heading into this 'Vale', and if he was being honest with himself he was mildly excited. He had been here for a better part of a week and all he had managed to see was, a forest off in the distance, the dorm, a library, a gym, and the dinning hall. It seemed it was finally a chance to experience something new, a small smirk played on his lips, he wondered just what this Vale would have in store for him, though with how excited Ruby seemed it must be something very interesting. He gave a low chuckle as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, it seemed he would have to turn in for the night, if she was serious about getting up bright and early.

As he walked back down the hallway towards the dorm a soft click reached his ears, he turned and was met with the emerald eyes of none other than, "Nyx?" The girl stiffened slightly as she looked over her shoulder then back at her as she gave a nervous wave, "What are you doing up so late?" She fidgeted slightly as she took a nervous step towards him.

"J-Just, you know, thought I would take a little stroll to help me sleep..." He looked down at her to see still in her sleepwear, complete with slippers as he looked back up at her.

"Like this?" She looked down at herself and crossed her arms, something was wrong, she refused to look at him anymore, even when he moved to stand in front of her she averted her gaze. "Nyx...what is it?" She merely shook her head.

"I-Its nothing, I just needed some fresh air, believe it or not, it does get stuff in those dorms sometimes..." She gave an empty chuckle, he wasn't buying it. Frowning he took hold of her shoulders to keep her in place as he leaned down to look directly into her eyes.

"Nyx, I don't appreciate being lied to, especially by someone who made it there duty to try and fix my problem..." She flushed slightly at that and turned her head away to look out the window, "Now, what is the matter?"

She bit her lip as she stared out into the moonlit courtyard of Beacon, everything was cloaked in an almost ethereal glow, it didn't look real yet it was still beautiful nonetheless. She mentally sighed, no matter how much gazing she did, that wasn't going to stop Rodric from questioning her, and he did have a point. She made it her job to poke and prod until he told her what was wrong, it only made sense that it would come back to bite her in the ass. She sucked in a breath and slowly let it out as she shrugged out of his grip, surprisingly he didn't resist, she took a step back as she clutched her sides, her gaze never leaving the window. "I-It's just," Her voice wavered, she scoffed slightly, she hadn't even began and she was already losing her nerve. She took a moment to calm herself before continuing, "not everyone is like you Rodric. Not everyone is so...understanding, and willing to look past appearances, its been hard ever since I came to Beacon. While there are people who are like you that don't care what I look like, others...others aren't so kind."

She ran her fingers through her hair and over her ears, her other hand found her tail waiting at her side, she pulled it close against her as she began to slowly stroke it. Glancing over towards Rodric she noticed that he too was now looking out the window, he hadn't urged her to continue or give typical advice such as 'just ignore them.' While she wouldn't hold it against her team for giving that type of advice, sometimes she wished they would simply, listen that's all she really wanted from them was just to listen to her. Taking another breath she continued, "I never really cared about it, ya' know? People say what they will and life goes on, why let someone get to you, when they'll eventually fade into nothing but a memory. It's just..." She frowned as she tried to find the words, "It's just I've never had someone so...relentless in harassing other faunus, let alone me. He just...it's like he makes it his mission to make sure he ruins my day, to make me feel like dirt, to make me feel less than what I am, to make me feel like shit!" She was shaking, she didn't realize it until she felt the calm hand of Rodric being placed on her shoulder, she looked up at him before looking back outside as she let out a shaky breath, "Sorry..."

She couldn't help but smile slightly when he said nothing, most people would hate that the person they confide in remain silent, but she was glad it allowed her to just get everything off her chest. "I just don't know what I'm suppose to do, I can't go to any of the teachers because what would that honestly do, ya' know? My team, I love them, but they have other things to worry about than a bully...my mom always told me to keep smiling, to keep smiling because the moment I don't then they win. I do, I still smile regardless of how much I hurt inside...it's just getting so hard to fake it any longer I don't-" She was cut off when her face pressed against Rodric's chest, a deep blush covered her face as she felt his arms tightly embrace her. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she heard his heart beating loudly in her ear, she tilted her head up slightly and fought back another blush when she saw an almost animal like ferocity in his eyes.

"Nyx," She jumped slightly when he spoke, thankfully he released her as she stumbled back slightly to look at him, that same ferocity remained in his eyes and made her tremble slightly. "There are times when one must ignore the violence they see, because it will simple breed more hate and more fear, correct?" She nodded slowly after a moment, that look in his eyes was strong, it filled her with a sense of bravery yet at the same time fear. "But, there are times when people must be made an example of, to show that fear will not reign over you. To show that we will not stand for this treatment any longer, to show that we are no longer afraid." She looked at him curiously, as she was about to speak he continued, "Things will change, I can guarantee that." A strange warmth filled her chest as she repeated those words in her head, while they sounded much like the hopeful words of her friends and family, the way he spoke held such a sincerity to it she couldn't help but smile. "Give it time, and justice will come, and it will strike hard on the deserving, for now ease your mind and return to bed, let not these trouble waste you away Nyx."

She bit her lip as she smiled trying to fight back the laugh she felt brewing in her throat, he spoke so strangely almost like an old-timey gentleman. She bit down on her tongue to keep the laugh from slipping out as she slowly nodded and turned to go back to her dorm, as she touched the handle she turned to Rodric and smile, "Thank you Rodric, I know it sounds strange, but...I believe you. People usually say that to make me feel better, but for some reason, I believe it when you say it." She shook her head, "Goodnight Rodric."

"Goodnight Nyx, and remember what I said 'Things will change...'" She nodded as she slipped back into her room and closed the door, as it clicked close a low rumbling growl could be heard echoing through the now empty halls. He turned back towards his destination, with a scowl set on his face, "Things will change...I can promise that."

* * *

Groaning softly he slowly opened his eyes to find that the room was still fairly dark, he tried to close his eyes when felt someone shaking him, frowning he turned to see Ruby kneeling next to him an obviously excited look plastered on her face. It only caused him to groan again as he covered his face rubbing his eyes, "Gods...what time is it child?"

She bit her lip as shook slightly trying to contain her laughter, she didn't want to wake anyone else up, instead she slowly pulled out her scroll to check the time, "It's just past seven." She couldn't stop it, she giggled softly when he groaned in annoyance before looking up at her again.

"Why on earth would you wake up at such an ungodly hour?" He restrained himself from unleashing a string of curses as he tilted his head back to see that the sky was barely turning colors as the sun was still rising.

"Well I said we would be heading out to Vale really early remember?" She smiled as he groaned again, having apparently forgotten that she had indeed said that, though as excited she was her face fell, "Well...I-I mean we can always go later if you're still-"

"N-No, no it's fine I just didn't expect you to actually wake me up so...so early." He frowned slightly as he rubbed his eyes, _why did I do that_, he wondered. Though his thoughts were stopped when Ruby clapped her hands together.

"Great, well first you need to take a shower, after what happened last night in the forge I'm sure you itching to clean up a little...I know I was." Even though she was mostly protected from everything that happened, she was still sweating and covered in ash and dust, seeing as he suffered a little more she expected him to be eager to bathe. Though as he continued to sit there looking at the ground she tilted her head slightly, "Whats wrong? You do know how to use a shower right?" She smiled slightly when he glared up at her.

"Of course I know how to use a shower, I just don't have a change of clothes, the only shirt I did have was ripped to shreds in that explosion." He moved back slightly so that his back was firmly against the wall as he rubbed his eyes once again when he found them stinging, Ruby sat next to him tapping a finger to her chin her face twisted in concentration. _Only the gods know what she could be thinking of, _he smirked slightly as he yawned loudly.

"Oh! I could go across the hall and see if Jaune or Ren have an extra shirt that you can borrow, I mean you can't very well go wandering out in torn clothes." Rodric hummed slightly, while the two boys shirts might fit a little tight on him it seemed like a better alternative than missing out on this little excursion. Shrugging slightly he nodded, as she clapped her hands together, "Right, well while I do that you go ahead and take your shower, and I'll be back before you know it." Quickly getting up she made her way out of the dorm and across the hall, she knocked on the door and waited, when she heard nothing she knocked again. It was the fifth time that she knocked did she hear something from the other side, although it sounded like someone falling out of bed, it was a sound nonetheless. A moment or so later the door opened to reveal a very disheveled and very tired Jaune wearing a bright blue onsie, she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as he rubbed his eyes.

"H-huh, oh...what's up Ruby...wait," He rubbed his eyes again and shook his head to wake himself up just a bit more, "Ruby? You're up this- wait what time is it? Did I oversleep again?!" Ruby frowned at that, as she shook her head sighing heavily, she could get up early, she just chose not too...why was it so hard to believe that?

"No Jaune you didn't oversleep, I, believe it or not, woke up early. I just came over to ask if you perhaps had an extra shirt that you weren't using?"

"Uh...for you?"

She sighed softly as she faced palmed, "Yes Jaune, for me, since as you can see I clearly don't have a shirt." She looked at him to see a confused look on his face, or a face still clouded with sleep, she honestly couldn't tell, "It's for Rodric we had a little...incident in the forge, and he doesn't have a spare one, and we had planned to head out to Vale."

"Oh...I knew that." He moved away from the door and walked over to his dressed pulling out one of the undershirts he used for his uniform and handed it to her, "Was that it?" She nodded happily, "Well in that case I think I'm going to get back to bed then, goodnight Ruby...or good morning, ah you know what I mean."

Ruby walked back into the dorm with one shirt in hand, now all she had to do was- it seemed she didn't think this through in it's entirety. She gulped softly as she stood outside of the bathroom door, she couldn't very well go in there and leave it for him, what if he was out of the shower and she walked in and saw...everything. She shook her head as she felt a small blush crawling up her neck, though she couldn't just hold onto it, cause he would come out and look for it and then it wouldn't be much different. She bit her lip and decided on what to do, she knew the bathroom like the back of her hand, gripping the door handle she slowly opened it as she shut her eyes. As quickly as she could she ran into the bathroom and left the shirt on the sink before running back out, though not before she slammed right into the wall next to the door.

Hearing a thud Rodric turned slightly, though through the bit of fog from the hot water he couldn't see much, shrugging slightly he went back to bathing himself.

* * *

Ruby sat at the table they had rubbing her forehead, probably not a good idea to go running through the bathroom with her eyes closed, gently prodding her forehead she winced slightly. Thankfully that loud smack of her head colliding with the wall hadn't woken up anyone else, aside from Blake and Weiss probably being angry with Rodric, she knew for sure that if Yang found out where they were going she would tease her mercilessly. Even though she knew it was a harmless trek through Vale, she just knew that Yang would make something out of nothing, and she didn't really want to listen to that for the coming days. A soft click caused her to drop her hand and jerk her head up, Rodric came out of the bathroom wearing the same pants from the night before much to her dismay, but with the white shirt thrown on. Suffice to say Jaune wore a much smaller size than Rodric seemed to, as the white shirt was practically a second skin to him, the thing that got her though was his long hair which was normally tied back hung loose on him. While most of it fell over his back some of it fell forward over his shoulders, "Wow..."

"Hm, what is it?"

She felt the heat creeping up her face as she quickly tried to find something to say, "I-I uh...w-well i-its just your hair. I've never seen it down on you, you've always had it up, so it was just...surprising I guess." He hummed slightly as he tucked the loose hair behind his ear pulling it over his shoulder and down his back, she had to turn away to keep the blush on her face hidden.

"Hm, I suppose I have, well besides that I suppose I am ready to go." He looked towards the beds as he tilted his head slightly, "Will the others be joining us?"

She shook her head, "No, knowing them they wouldn't want to wake up this early, especially Yang. I had planned to stay in Vale as long as I could, I doubt they would have wanted to...what about you, how long do you want to say in Vale?"

He gave another soft hum as he slowly shrugged, "As long as we can, I would like to see what this town looks like, it has been much to long since I have seen a civilized town, I'm sure it looks much different that I am expecting." He made his way over to the door and pulled it open as he looked over to Ruby, "Shall we be having breakfast, or will we eat in Vale?"

"I know a good place or two in Vale." She smiled as she got up from the chair and ducked under Rodric's arm as she walked into the hallway wither her hands behind her back. She didn't turn when she heard the door click behind her, she began to walk down the hall listening to the heavy steps of the one behind her. "So...you're a dragon huh?" She smiled when he sighed heavily behind her.

"Yes child, must I go over this again?"

"Just on some stuff that we didn't get to cover is all, such as how you got to be the way you are now." Another heavy sigh was another smile across her face.

"Yes, I suppose that deserves some explanation hm?" He shook his head smiling slightly when he saw her nodding furiously, "Well," He rubbed the back of his head not exactly sure on how to explain his situation, "I suppose it might have been because I had died but-"

"What?!" She had stopped so suddenly that she was almost thrown forward when he ran right into her, she quickly turned around a look of shock clear on her face, "Y-You died!, B-But you said...you said dragons were immortal, h-how could you-"

"Hang on child I never said we were immortal, I merely said that we have long lives, we can still pass from old age...or from other means..." He rubbed the back of his head as he shook his head, "However, because we simply die doesn't mean that is the end for us, we are made from the very essence that makes up the world, when we pass we simply return from where we came from."

"So...you go basically return to dust?"

"That is how the old adage goes doesn't it? I suppose it's true in a sense, when a dragon dies all their essence returns to nature, but that doesn't mean that we are simply gone forever. We simply vanish for a time I suppose, we enter a sort of hibernation, our bodies fade back to nature while our souls linger...I can't honestly explain how I came to be, I can't seem to remember much about my own passing. I am certain that it wasn't because of my age, that I know for sure."

Ruby didn't miss the anger lacing his tone, she let the subject drop when he had stopped speaking, though she would lie if she said she wasn't curious. She wondered what he meant that their bodies vanished, shaking her head she tried to put it out of her mind, if she thought about it to much she would end up bugging him about it. To take her mind off of it she smiled and turned around as she began to walk backwards facing him, "You know since the tables are turned I'm surprised that you aren't asking me questions, about Vale you know?"

"I suppose it's because I can contain my excitement unlike a certain girl I know." He chuckled softly when huffed in mock anger, "I suppose it's because I don't know what to ask, or where to begin for that matter, for the week that I've been here I've seen so much, yet almost nothing at the same time. It's confusing honestly, everything is so drastically different...the things I saw and heard from the void did nothing to prepare me for any of this, it makes me wonder just how much time has passed since I met my end." He trailed off as his eyes returned to the now stone pathway as a breeze blew across his face, everything was different yet strangely all the same, there were so many things he wanted to know yet he didn't know where to start.

Looking up he saw that Ruby had turned back around, possibly to make sure she didn't run into anything, he smirked slightly as he wondered where to begin. As the stone of the school slowly vanished giving way to a long empty runway he shook his head, the answer was right there and he took this long to notice. "You hunters...you're not like the hunters from my time, tell me about them."

Ruby looked over her shoulder nodding before turning back around, he wanted to know everything about hunters, she wasn't exactly sure if she could deliver on that type of information. Sure she always dreamed about being one, and she practically followed everything they did religiously...who was she kidding she knew she would be able to tell him everything. "Well," She wrung her hands as she began, "you're right hunters aren't like those from your time. Mainly because we don't listen to a king, for now we listen to our headmaster, Ozpin, he's the one who tells us the things we need to do and what missions were allowed to take. After we graduate we apply for hunting licenses in whatever Kingdom we live in, that gives us access to jobs coming in and out of the Kingdom, I guess it's sort of like contracts? All the hunters have access to any job through a website that hunters can go to, there they can pick any job and just like that they have it." She took a breath before continuing, excitement slowly building through her body as she spoke, "The missions come in many types; either extermination jobs where people need Grimm cleared out of an area, escort jobs where hunters are needed in assisting local military in transporting high value prisoners, even down to simple delivery missions but that's mainly because they go through high Grimm infested areas."

"How do you know so much about these missions Ruby?" She gave a loud nervous chuckle as she rubbed the back of her head, yet she didn't say anything, "Ruby?"

"W-well I might have peeked at the website, I-It's not illegal to look, but that's all I can do. Seems there's a password that's needed that's only issued by the Kingdom after a hunter applies for a license."

"Tell me are you forced to stay as hunters once you graduate?"

"No...we are free to choose other careers if we want, but most people stay as hunters because it's...it's amazing. Sure most people do it for the fame or the glory, heck some people do it mainly for the money, but there are a large group of people that do it, to make a difference. Some people want to simply help others in a way that police officers and lawyers couldn't, we are the ones who make a physical change in the world." Though he couldn't see it, she had a large smile on her face as they grew closer to the airship in the distance, "I'm sure you've seen or at least heard that the Faunus aren't exactly the most respected race, but they're here so that they can change that, to show that there are those who want to help and make a different. To show that they aren't at all like the Faunus in the White Fang."

Rodric was silent as he listened to her, these hunters seemed so vastly different than the ones he lived alongside, they were much more honorable that was for certain. It also seemed they carried everyone's hopes on their shoulders, hopes for a better world, and better lives, though it seemed like Ruby was perfectly content with bearing that burden. _Already it seems better than my time._

"Well here we are." Rodric looked up to see a large metal contraption sitting at the end of the runway, it was completely black though there seemed some windows in the bottom portion that sat along the ground. There seemed to be a few people entering it from where they were, _and just like that it's terrible._

"We're getting on that thing? Really?" Rodric had his doubts about this strange machine, though from the way the others were acting, laughing and smiling, and holding hands with one another it seemed that they had more trust in this machine than he did. He frowned when he heard the soft laughter coming from Ruby.

"What's the matter afraid of heights?"

He scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous, of course I'm not afraid of heights, what I am afraid of is some strange metal contraption being used to take us to Vale. I would much rather it be me who could fly than to trust someone else with that duty, but it seems I have no choice in the matter now do I?" He gave weary sigh when Ruby simply shook her head, "Let us be off then I suppose..."

* * *

Ruby had to keep her gaze outside of the window to keep from cracking up, the moment the airship began to move Rodric dug his fingers into the seats and practically went rigid. With every bump from the turbulence he seemed to get more and more anxious, as funny as it was she couldn't help but feel bad for him, she had hoped that flying would have helped him relax more seeing as it was something he said he longed to do, yet... "Rodric, are you alright?"

"P-Perfectly fine, child." He frowned when his own voice betrayed him, he couldn't believe the position he was in, here he was finally amongst the clouds and yet he was scared stiff of being in this metal contraption. "H-How long did you say this flight was?"

"...an hour?"

"Lovely."

Ruby frowned slightly at that, she wanted him to enjoy his time in Vale and if he was like this now she could only imagine that it would sour his experience there as well. She turned to look at the clouds passing by as she sighed, she didn't understand, he had said he wanted to fly again but why was he acting so...scared. She hummed softly as she tried to figure him out, this was flying technically but- her head snapped up as she realized something, while this was technically flying it wasn't flying for him. He was a dragon, he was used to feeling the wind on his face so this was very unnatural for him, quickly standing she grabbed his arm only to feel his arm twitch as his grip tightened. "It's alright I think I know how to help you relax, come on."

Rodric looked up towards Ruby before slowly letting go of the seat and stood letting her guide him, she took him towards the back of the cabin leading him to a single door, he was about to ask about it until she threw it open. His heart clenched but slowly relaxed when it opened to a metal walkway connected to the cabin, they slowly made their way along the outside, strangely enough he found it quiet. Looking over the metal railing he could see the ground rushing by as a familiar sense of vertigo brewed in his chest, "Ruby...this is wonderful but it's it a little too quiet and too calm to be outside of this machine?"

"Well that's cause there's a aura generated field around this part of the airship, it allows the passengers to stand on the outside without the wind pressing against them and the loud noise, but..." She fidgeted slightly, "There is a way to turn it off, I just don't know if you would-"

"Please! Would you be so kind as to turn it off." Ruby simply nodded as she moved over to a dial worked into the metal of the ship, she placed her hands on it and looked over to Rodric.

"It's going to get pretty loud so...brace yourself." She slowly turned the dial down lowering the aura barrier the dust crystals generated, slowly she began to feel the air rushing past them until the barriers were completely gone leaving them to the full force of the wind as it blew against them. She had to brace herself to the metal bar running along the wall, she turned to see Rodric looking in the direction of the rushing wind, the look on his face could only be described as true joy. She couldn't help but give a wide smile as she saw it, he was no longer shaking or looking nervous, he stood tall as he walked towards the very front of the ship. Doing the best she could she followed him, she wanted to call out to him, but when she did the roaring wind cut her voice off.

It was hard, moving against the wind, but he forced himself forward determined to reach the front to feel the full force of the wind against him. That familiar feeling, and the sense of vertigo returned full force as it made his chest swell with pure joy, his body seemed to tingle all over as the wind roared in his ears. As he gripped the metal bars that kept him from going over the edge he leaned forward and closed his eyes as all the memories came flooding back to him. The wind rushing over his body and beneath his wings as he flew through the skies, the vast emptiness ahead of him, to go wherever he pleased whenever he please. He felt a pressure in his chest slowly growing, being back in the skies ad brought him a great pleasure he thought he had lost, slowly he tilted his head back and took a deep breath. As he opened his mouth he gripped the metal bar tighter, as he let forth a loud bellowing roar that seemed to make the very air quiver with it's might. The roar lasted for a mere moment before slowly fading away, letting the silence return.

"W-Whoa..." With great difficulty she crossed the metal walkway to stand next to Rodric her hands holding the metal bar in a death grip as the wind rushed around them "That was crazy..." She had heard Grimm roar before and she had seen lions roar from when she went to the zoo, but never something like this. It was so deep, and loud, and help such a fierce presence behind it, she couldn't doubt anymore that what he claimed to be was true. He really was a dragon.

"I...I apologize, i-it's just been a long time since I last felt the wind in my face like this, it brought back such wonderful memories that I couldn't contain myself." Rodric had to shout over the air to speak to her, he had worried that he might have frightened her with his display of pure excitement, he looked down towards her only to see that she had a look of pure wonder in her eyes.

"N-No that's perfectly fine I'm glad you're feeling better..." She bit her lip as she looked out towards the clouds before looking back up at him, "D-Do you think you can do it again?"

He merely chuckled as he looked out towards the clouds rushing by as he felt the pressure building in his chest one again, he took a deep breath and tilted his head back as he released another bellowing roar into the sky, perhaps even louder than the first time.

* * *

Lifting the cup to her lips, she slowly sipped at the liquid inside grimacing at the bitter taste, _How can these humans drink this swill. _She set down the cup as she leaned back in her chair tilting her head back as she looked up at the sky. Her associates had told her to return to the base within the hour, that meant she had at least a bit of free time to waste until she returned. Sadly all she had to do was stay in this town filled with these wretched humans, twice she had to scare off some man who had the audacity to come up and try to, as they say, hit on her. She ran her fingers through her silver tresses as she closed her eyes, maybe she would return sooner, she couldn't stand to be around these humans and animals for much longer.

The ground suddenly began to shake slightly as she opened her eyes to see the cup before her swaying, it seemed others could feel it as well as they all began to mutter among themselves as to what it could be. A moment later a loud bellowing roar rushed through the area shaking the windows and echoing through the now dead silent street, a small smirk played on her face as she quickly stood and began to walk from her table, "Well...seems someone is enjoying themselves."

* * *

They both received strange looks as they stepped off the airship, though she couldn't help but expect that since Rodric roared like that, she could hear some of the people muttering around them. She ignored them and quickly pulled Rodric away from the air dock and further into Vale, she stopped when they walked onto the main street that was lined with all sorts of shops, ranging from simple clothing stores, to weapon repair shops. Rodric looked around at all the tall buildings, in awe at such simple yet grand structures as he chuckled slightly shaking his head, "So this is what you humans have been up to over the years, well I must say it is an amazing sight."

Ruby eagerly nodded her head when she saw that Rodric at least seemed interested, "Yeah it has so much more stuff than what you can see right now, come on let's go I want to show you my favorite place." She quickly rushed off leaving Rodric shaking his head as he followed as quickly as he could behind her. As he followed he took notice of all the large buildings that were around them, all the metal vehicles that drove up and down the road, but he seemed to take more notice of just all the people that were around. In the small village he had lived by there couldn't have been more than a hundred people, but here, he easily passed by that many as he followed Ruby. He had to admit watching the people milling around and going about their daily tasks did remind him of the village, he was pulled from his thoughts when he once again almost ran into the girl before him, she had to at least say something when she intended to do that. He shook his head as she happily declared, "Here we are."

Looking up at the large white building he read the name _From Dust Till Dawn_, with a large white banner underneath it stating in big red letters, 'Grand Reopening.' He tilted his head slightly, _Grand Reopening for what?, _while he would have pondered it for a moment the ringing of a bell pulled his attention forward as he watched Ruby enter the shop. Sighing heavily he quickly followed her into it, it wasn't a fairly large shop but with the way everything was organized it certainly seemed huge. In front of him behind a large glass counter stood an old man who gave him a smile as he nodded towards him, looking off to the side he saw strange tubes descending from the ceiling, each one filled with some strange powder all in different colors. Ruby was at the other end of the glass counter looking at whatever lied inside of it, he looked around the rest of the shop as he made his way over to her, there were rows of brown wooden shelves all filled with different types of snacks from what it seemed like. In the back he could see glass doors with many beverages behind them, and next to them he could see rows of magazines, it seemed this shop had a little bit of everything in it. Moving over to the case that Ruby was currently...uh drooling over he looked into it and couldn't help but laugh slightly at the sight.

"What's so funny?" Ruby wiped her mouth and looked up at Rodric curiously.

"Oh, nothing I just didn't think you were the the type to obsess over jewelry."

She quickly shook her head, "No, no this isn't jewelry this is-wait what's that suppose to mean?!" She glared up at him, yet it didn't seem to do much as he just smirked at her, she huffed as she looked back down at the crystals in the case. "Anyway, no this isn't jewelry, you remember that stuff I put in my bullets last night before they uh...you know. Um, anyway, that stuff was Dust and this is their refined form." She motioned for the older man to come over to which she pointed to one of the burn crystals in the case, he simply nodded and fished it out of the case before handing it to her, "I'm not an expert when it comes to Dust, that would be Weiss, but I do know that we pretty much use Dust for just about everything. From souping up our weapons, to powering the airship we came in on, I hear some people weave this stuff into their clothes to enhance their aura and stuff. It's uh pretty versatile, here." She handed him the crystal, to which he turned over in his hand looking at it, he couldn't believe such a simple thing was so powerful and yet she claimed it was.

He brought it towards his face looking at it, as he slowly turned it over he noticed a slightly glimmer in it, there seemed to be something swirling around inside of the crystal. He wasn't sure if there was actually something there or if it was merely his eyes, but there was no denying the power he felt rolling off of it. He could feel a massive energy flowing through his hands and arms, and at the center of it was the crystal, he brought it closer to his face and sniffed at it trying to get some sort of idea of what it actually was. Though the only thing he could smell was a tinge of smoke, with an undertone of...roses? He shook his head as he brought it close to his face again and this time he ran his tongue over it, only to hear Ruby cry out in surprise. "W-What are you doing?!"

"Hm, is something the matter?"

"Yes! I mean...no...maybe? I don't know really, I mean people have tried to fuse dust with their bodies before I just never seem someone...lick a dust crystal like that, are you alright?"

He shrugged slightly as he set the crystal on the glass, "I suppose, my tongue tingles a bit, other than that I believe I'm fine." He crossed his arms as he looked down at all the crystals in the case before sighing, "Why do they come in so many colors, aren't they all the same thing?"

"No, see this one?" She held up the crystal that he had licked, "This one is a Burn crystal, when someone uses it, it generates fire. That one there is a Frost crystal, it generates ice, and that one is a Shock crystal...I'm pretty sure you can figure out what that one does. Those are pretty much the basic ones, but the Schnee Dust Company -they're the one's who mine and sell all the dust- they have people that, I don't know, combine them to create other types of dust. They've made Dust that heals wounds, restricts movement, and I think one that makes people always tell the truth...right?" She turned to the older man who nodded making her smile as she turned back towards Rodric, "Pretty much we have all types of Dust that can be used to do all kinds of things."

"Interesting..." He trailed off as Ruby went to look around the rest of the shop, his gaze drifted back down towards the crystals that lay in the case, it was still so strange to think that those fragile rocks were so powerful. Then again, considering all the other strange things he's seen in the last week, it made sense to say the least. He shook his head as he looked below the crystals and noticed a price for them, unsurprisingly he didn't know what it was, it didn't seem to be any currency he had ever seen, even though he had only see one type. Though before he could say anything about it, he felt Ruby tugging on his arm urging him to follow her. Sighing softly he relented and followed the girl back out into the city, the sun seemed to have risen higher in the short time they were in the shop, and it seemed like a few more shops had opened in that time. Though he couldn't exactly stop to look at any of them as he was pretty much being dragged along by the young girl in front of him, it was just as well though, he didn't know what these shops were and he felt if he were to stray off on his own he would no doubt end up lost.

They passed by many buildings, some with interesting looking trinkets hanging in the window, and sadly they passed buy a building that was releasing the most heavenly aroma he had ever smelled. But, despite his watering mouth and growling stomach they pressed on, he had no idea where she was dragging him to but much to his surprise, just after that thought they in fact stopped in front of a large store. There weren't any windows displaying their wares but from the name he was able to gather that it was a simple clothing shop, Ruby didn't say anything as she walked through the open doors, he had no other choice but to follow her. As he crossed through the doors he was slightly taken aback with how large the store actually was on the inside, from front to back it was lined with rows upon rows of clothing racks all holding different styles of pants, shirts, and other types of clothing. "Ugh..."

He arched his brow in confusion as he moved over to her, "Something the matter?"

"I hate clothes shopping..."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, "I don't understand, if you hate shopping for clothes, why did we stop here?"

She shrugged slightly, "Well you did say that you didn't have many clothes aside from that shirt that was ruined right?" He merely nodded, "Well I figured, since we're out it would be a good idea for you to pick something up..." He turned to look at the hundreds of clothing racks sitting before him as he felt himself groan in annoyance, "So...anything strike your fancy?"

* * *

They began to wander around the large clothing store looking at different styles of clothing, he began to understand why Ruby disliked shopping for clothes now. Though when he would turn to her she would always be smiling, or laughing as she looked at the shirts, sometimes she would pull one off the rack and hold it up to him, saying that he would look good in it. Most of the time it would be a joke of a obnoxious drawing or some words that she said 'fit him' but other times she would find something he honestly liked. He in turn tried to do the same, finding shirts that he thought she would like, strangely he began to enjoy himself as well, he would find himself smiling each time he handed her a shirt that she would like. One of the times he turned to her, he saw that she had a handful of shirts in her arms, some of them ones he had found for her and others she no doubt found on her own, "Are you really going to get all of those?"

She looked down at the ever growing pile in her hands as she chuckled nervously and took three from the bottom of the pile and laid them across the racks, "Well now I am, I don't need that many shirts after all, but this one I'm definitely getting I mean look at it!" She tossed the pile onto her shoulders as she held up a black shirt with a picture of three Beowolves howling up at the shatter moon, "You can't tell me that isn't cool!"

He only chuckled as he looked at the shirt, "Isn't it...a little big for you?" She instantly pulled it against her chest looking up at him with puffed up cheeks.

"So, I can grow into it...in the mean time I can wear it to bed." She quickly folded the shirt up and buried it underneath the pile she had accumulated, "A-Anyway why haven't you picked anything yet we've already been walking around for awhile, and I'm the only one who got anything." He said nothing as he turned around and went back to looking at the clothes on the racks, Ruby knew right away something was wrong, Rodric was a strange, thickheaded and obnoxious person, but he was also pretty transparent. She said nothing as she walked over to him to look at the shirt he had pulled from the rack, "So...is something wrong?"

"No."

She sighed as she rolled her eyes, she should have known it wouldn't have been that easy to get him to answer, she took a step back and scratched her head. This wasn't her place, she didn't really know how to talk to people that were upset, that was mostly Yang's place, she always found a way to get people to open up. She shook her head and was about to drop the subject when she notice Rodric look at the price on the shirt he had been looking at, "Wait is that what the problem is?"

He quickly dropped his hand and turned around looking at her, "What I-I don't know what you're talking about."

She scoffed and shook her head, "Rodric if that was the problem you should have just-"

"There's nothing wrong!"

"...should have just said something, I'd be more than happy to lend you some money so you can get something."

"No, that won't be necessary, you should be using your money for something important."

"Well...isn't this important? I mean if you don't get something now you won't really have much to wear once we get back to Beacon." Rodric frowned, though he couldn't deny that she was actually right, if they left now without him getting anything he would be stuck wearing Jaune's clothes. Even so he would gladly put up with it if it meant that she would keep her money, though when he looked down at her he could tell that she was willing to put up a fight over this. He shook his head anyway and went to argue his case only to have her continue, "Besides it isn't that much to begin with, I've been saving money since I was in Signal I have plenty, not to mention my dad gave Yang and I some extra money in case we need it, so plenty...see?"

He crossed his arms as he looked at her, "I have a feeling I'm not going to have much say in this am I?"

"Nope."

"You know this is really-"

"Nope."

"You shouldn't be doing this in-"

"Nope."

"Ruby really don't-"

"Nope."

"Ruby I-"

"Nope."

"Ruby-"

"Nope.

"..."

"..."

"R-"

"Nope."

* * *

After much grumbling on his part they exited the store with bags filled with clothes for the both of them, despite his protesting ans arguing she had paid for his clothes herself. He had at least offered to carry the bags as some sort of 'favor for a favor' but she even declined that offer, he didn't know why she was being so difficult over this. He shook his head and put it out of his mind for now as he followed the red clad girl as she strolled down the street with a hop in her step, he could only guess why. The city had gotten a lot more lively since they entered the clothing store, now he could see just the sheer number of people that populated the city, both human and faunus alike. At first one would assume that they were living together almost harmoniously, but for someone like him who grew up around truly honest and kind humans he could see small gestures that were displayed towards the faunus. It was something as simply as one of the humans giving the faunus a wide berth, or simply refusing to hold the doors open for them under the guise of forgetfulness or being distracted by some trinket or item that the store held. He wasn't blind and he new that no one else was, and that sickened him, that they simply allowed this all to happen and went about their lives as if nothing was wrong. He didn't understand how humans in this time could be so cruel to people they shared a city with, he felt a low rumbling growl growing in his chest, though it was quickly silenced when he bumped into something.

Looking down he saw that Ruby had, once again, stopped walking with no warning whatsoever. He was beginning to wonder if it would be a reasonable request to ask if she would purchase a bell, that way he would at least know that when the ringing stopped he wouldn't run into her anymore. Though as he looked towards her, he noticed she had stopped but was looking at one of the shops across the road, more importantly the one aptly named _The Baker's Dozen, _there wasn't much of a mystery as to what they carried. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly at how childish she was at times, "Ruby..." Saying her name seemed to pull her from her daze as she looked up at him, only to flush slightly and quickly look away, "We've been at this for a few hours already what do you say we take a break?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Sure."

"Hm, how about at that place right there, _The Baker's-"_

"Yes!" She dashed across the road and into the shop before he could even finish his sentence, he merely stood there for a moment looking at the trail of red petals she left behind. He shook his head and hurried across the road, thankful that it hadn't been busy.

Rodric sat at one of the small tables the bakery had, surprisingly enough it also turned out that the shop was also a small diner. According to the menu they had hanging on the wall, while they didn't have much in the way of food, aside from a few sandwiches, they had lists of different cookies, cakes, pies, puddings, and just about anything else sugary sweet that Ruby had instantly gushed over. He didn't understand how she could possibly enjoy sweets this much, they weren't healthy for one and they definitely weren't healthy in the amounts that she was eating them in, and now she was sitting in front of him shoveling some sort of cold confection into her mouth. He shook his head sighing softly, "So what did you call this...treat again?"

"Mhp, ish ice cweam." She swallowed the mouthful of ice cream she had and quickly wiped her mouth as she chuckled slightly, "Sorry, I was saying that this is ice cream and it's soooo good, you have to try some."

"I...I'm fine really I rather not...fill myself on such a..delicious looking treat when there is dinner to be had back at Beacon." In truth the confection that she was gorging herself on didn't look appetizing in the least, she at least seemed to enjoy it, which was good enough since he had suggesting coming here in the first place.

"What? No, come on you have to try this, at least a tiny bite, its not going to kill you."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that..."

"Oh come on don't be a baby, here just a bite." She scooped up a big spoonful of her favorite strawberry ice cream and held it out for him, she couldn't help but smile at the uneasy way he looked at it. She motioned for him to hurry as she laughed slightly, "Come on its melting."

Frowning Rodric leaned forward and took the spoon into his mouth as he ate the ice cream she held for him, the first thing he noticed was that it was cold, very cold. It made his jaw hurt with how cold it was, he frowned and groaned slightly, but once it passed he noticed the second thing; the sweetness. It was really sweet, and creamy, and honestly much more flavorful than he had though, "This...isn't as bad as I thought it was."

"What that's it? Come on you know it's so much more than 'not bad', what do you really think?"

"If your expecting me to gush over how 'amazing this is', much like you do might I add, I wouldn't hold my breath, I acknowledged that it is in fact delectable, but that is all you're going to get from me."

She frowned as she went back to scooping spoonfuls into her mouth as she huffed, "You're no fun, you know that?"

"I am quiet aware."

She smirked and shook her head as she helped herself to the rest of the ice cream, she was just about finished when she felt her pocket buzz slightly. Holding the spoon in her mouth she pulled her scroll out and opened it up to see she had a message, a message from Professor Ozpin no less, the spoon fell from her mouth as she read the message. She had to stop and re read it over again as she gave a soft sigh and looked up at Rodric, "Well I guess our day out is over..."

"Hm, why is that?"

"Ozpin wants us back at Beacon...he wants to talk with you."

* * *

After following a rather upset Ruby they both found themselves on another airship, much to his displeasure, though he was a lot better about it now. They sat further to the back with the bags sitting at their feet, he looked over to Ruby to see her slouched in her seat, she seemed to be taking it a lot harder than he was, but he understood he actually did enjoy their little outing. Despite that there was a pressing question he wanted answered, "So, what did Ozpin want?"

She sighed softly and shrugged, "He didn't say the only thing that the message said was..." She pulled out her scroll to read what the message actually said, " ahem, 'Ms. Rose at your earliest convenience I would like for you to bring Rodric to my office, I have a matter I wish to discuss with him, thank you' that's it." She set her scroll on her lap and huffed in annoyance, just when she was starting to have fun to, it wasn't even one o'clock yet and they were already having to call it a day.

"Strange what could he want with me I wonder..."

"Who knows with him, probably just pulling you away to tell you something you already knew, he does that a lot sometimes."

"Well, hopefully he has a good explanation for this, I was actually enjoying taking in the sights and the strange foods you forced upon me."

"Forced? Please I saw the way you were eyeing my food, I _had _to share otherwise I risked it going missing when I turned my back."

"I would never steal food from a child, they need the sustenance to grow, and in your case you need plenty of it hm?"

"Wha- I'm growing at a perfectly normal pace thank you very much!" She crossed her arms and huffed heavily, she wasn't angry at him she was mostly surprised that he was actually joking around with her, at least she thought he was...that's what it had sounded like to her anyway. She glanced over at him and saw him staring out the window with a faint smirk on his lips, she couldn't help but smile knowing that he was finally starting to relax around them, or rather around her for now. She knew that he would soon warm up to the others, though Weiss was going to be slow progress she felt that they would eventually get along much like the two of them did. Then a thought struck her, "Say Rodric..." He gave a small hum to signal that he was paying attention, "you know, you never did tell me how you got be...you know like this."

"I suppose I haven't." He looked towards her before sighing, "The truth is, I don't actually know." She stared at him wide eyed and gaping mouth as she struggled to form words, in her shocked state he continued, "That is the truth believe it or not, when I was...dead." He frowned at his choice of words before crossing his arms, "Well I suppose there is no better way to explain that than to be blunt, so yes while I was dead I lacked a physical body all I was, was merely a consciousness. I could still sense and perceive things around me, such as how I described being able to still sense the world and all it's changes...I was there and yet I wasn't." He sighed heavily, "Do you remember how I said when a dragon dies we merely release our essence back into the world?" She nodded slowly as he chuckled softly, "Well I suppose that had something to do with being able to sense the world around me."

"What do you mean?"

He tilted his head back leaning it against the rumbling window of the airship, "Well it's not a definite answer but, I mean it's something, what I mean is that since I am an earth dragon when I died I returned to nature. Every tree was me I can only assume, I was able to feel and 'see' and sense things through that. That is how I am able to know simple things, everything else is a mystery to me, since you humans have pushed nature far away from your personal lives it is hard to learn about something you cannot see."

"We only did that because of the Grimm though...wait were you able to see them while you were...you know?"

"Strangely enough...no, I could sense just about every other creature that wandered through the forests but these creatures I've never noticed...why is that?"

"Because they lack a soul I guess."

"...What?"

"Yeah, the creature's of Grimm don't have souls that's why they can't generate an aura like the human and faunus can...though that doesn't exactly explain why they attack us." This time it was Ruby who sighed heavily, she leaned her head back against the cushioned seat, "Supposedly that's why the Grimm attack us, because we have something that they don't and they are merely trying to take it by force. But, I read that researches said that they are attracted to negativity, like hate and war and stuff like that...with the way people still treat faunus and each other its no wonder they are still so close to the kingdoms." She gave an almost weary sigh that Rodric picked up on, he recognized the way it sounded as he had sounded the same way only yesterday, "All they do is take and kill, ruining peoples lives and family, they don't care what they destroy to feed their need for destruction..." Ruby kept her eyes closed as Rodric merely looked at her, something told him that Ruby was hiding a deep scar in her heart, something she had yet to come to terms with. Nothing more was said as they returned to Beacon in silence.

* * *

As the airship docked they picked up their belongings and headed towards the school, after Ruby informed him of the nature of the Grimm they both remained silent as they walked on. The air was heavy with silence and Rodric didn't know how to break it, something was ailing the young girl before him and he didn't know what to do to comfort her. He wasn't even sure if it was his place to comfort her, what if it was merely some resentment for the Grimm, what if he brought up bad memories by trying to talk to her about it, what if he merely angered her when she wished to not speak of it. _Gah, why must humans be so difficult! _"Rodric?"

His head shot up at her voice, "Yes?" She was merely looking at him curiously before jerking her head further up their path, his eyes followed hers and fell upon the woman standing there waiting for them. Her arms were crossed and she had a deep scowl on her face as she tapped her foot impatiently, "I guess she means to lead me to Ozpin."

"Yeah I guess so..." He looked towards her and noticed the dejected look on her face, he sighed softly.

"I...actually enjoyed today Ruby, perhaps we can continue again tomorrow?"

"I can't classes start up again tomorrow..."

_Damn. _"Well perhaps next weekend then?"

She gave a faint smile, "Sure that sounds like fun."

"Well-"

"Today Rodric." He turned and glared at the woman who simply returned the searing glare with an equally frigid glare, huffing indignantly he returned to the task at hand.

"Well we shall continue our little expedition next weekend, for now could I trouble you to take these bags back to the dorm, I'll be meet you there soon." She nodded as she took the few bags he had and watched him walk away following Professor Goodwitch who seemed to be in a hurry as Rodric had to jog to keep up with her.

Sighing softly she turned and headed back into the school carrying their bags, she grumbled to herself about the whole situation; having to end her trip early, having to carry all the bags back to the dorm, having to be away from Rodric...she really liked being around him, despite him seeming scary he was pretty fun to be around. With plenty of trouble she managed to make it back to her dorm room with only few stumbles, though as she stood outside the dorm she found herself with one final challenge...how was she going to open the door? She couldn't reach her scroll, huffing she kicked at the door hoping someone was in, thankfully it seemed like there was...sadly it was-

"Well back from your date I see, how did it go?"

"Ugh Yang it wasn't a date, we were just hanging out."

"Uh-huh did he buy you all those?"

"Ugh..." She shuffled into the room instantly cursing her luck that it was Yang who had been the one to meet her, she had wished that it was Blake or Weiss but no it had Yang. Sighing heavily she wondered if Rodric was having any better luck with his situation.

* * *

The cramped space did little to alleviate the tension between the two people stuck in the elevator together, Rodric glared at Goodwitch out of the corner of his eye as she had huffed again for the fifth time in the last ten minuets. He knew she wasn't exactly thrilled to be stuck in here with him, but she could at least go about it a little more quietly, shaking his head he returned his gaze to the red number above the door watching as it slowly grew. She hadn't spoken a word to him since they were outside, she wouldn't tell him what Ozpin had wanted or what it was all about, and frankly...he was annoyed beyond belief.

Thankfully the metal doors eventually opened revealing a long white hallway lined with windows that let the afternoon sun pour into the hallway, "Go on he's waiting for you. He rolled his eyes and stepped out of the elevator and made his way down the hall, surprisingly he didn't here the sound of her heels on the floor meaning she wasn't following him, casting a glance over his shoulder he saw that the elevator doors had closed once again. He gave a weary sigh as he proceeded down the long hallway towards the large set of doors.

Pushing them open revealed a large room that was equally empty a single desk sat in the center and sitting behind the desk, "Ozpin..."

"Rodric, I'm glad you could make it, please take a seat."

"What's this about Ozpin, and no games just tell me."

"Why it's about your enrollment of course."


End file.
